Blood is thicker than water, and brothers Cal and Aaron are too close to realise that they cannot abide each other and so should either get out of each other's way or restrain themselves as much as possible. Things get really dramatic when a man turns up and unwittingly becomes the catalyst, resulting in the brothers becoming actual enemies.
 

One day, Cal is unable to pay his hairdresser's bill and, on the invitation of the barber, calls in during the Christmas celebrations to pay off the debt before the year is out. But Cal is not so careful with his choice of company. Aaron has been a bit bad-tempered lately, but when his brother begins to socialise with the host - of entirely different social and cultural origins - and host and guest start talking about their respective family losses, he loses all sense of occasion and, after a verbal confrontation, Aaron and Cassius come to blows. And Cal stands by his new friend.

• Some films result in a storm of artistic approval, others are profoundly moving and, in a few rare cases, some simply will not be forgotten. Many a director has failed in the unlikely attempt at combining all three attributes. Enter debut feature film director Derek M. Cianfrance and his colleagues Joey Curtis, Mike Tillman and Jimmy Helton. Together they show the old masters, to whom they wanted Brother Tied to be a "love letter", that after a century of cinema it is absolutely possible to make a masterpiece film from one of the oldest stories (the brothers' names bear resemblance to those of Cain and Abel) - and in some instances even outmastering the classic models.

Seldom has an artistic film flouted so successfully the unwritten law of overloading a storyline with too many artistic elements. This is certainly not simply due to the astonishing artistic expertise and even stronger motivating power of the young film makers, but also to the film's soul, which practically hypnotizes the audience. The profound presence of Cassius and Cal's friendship (the chemistry between Carey Westbrook and Keith Zimmerman is convincing in every respect) seems, not least because of its spontaneous development, to be out of this world and still needs no special explanation. Desires are awoken and, right from the start, are in seemingly constant danger.
 
Although Brother Tied is certainly no gay film, it still manages to reveal more to an appropriate audience than most contemporary gay movies even attempt. Although only one ironic comment by Aaron, who does not want to "disturb the love-birds", makes an explicit reference to this theme, gay cinema goers are free to make all sorts of associations. First and foremost, Christmas or not, it is really quite difficult to explain this sudden departure into mutual sympathy by means of purely platonic friendship.
 
The camerawork emphasises each instance of bodily contact unusual for the western occidental world, from intense eye contact to a close-up of a hand resting on the shoulder of the friend. These are images which make time stand still, and are still ground-breaking two film festivals later.

It is no accident that Pier Paolo Pasolini and Kenneth Anger are two of a long list of Cianfrance's influences. The heterosexual sub-plot should not be glossed over, but it is symptomatic, when the friends say more about their dates than is shown on-screen. It seems to be more important simply to talk about sexuality at all. When Cassius reveals that he loves his barber's shop and simply has no time for women (although he has time for Cal), the homoerotic aspect of the film can no longer be denied.

Not least, many gays have always been magically drawn to particularly tragic films. And what is more tragic than a perfect friendship, which even radiates homoerotic references, with, hanging over it, the sword of animosity, when its love cannot stop the hate? The contrast between deepest peace and open conflict is emphasised by Cassius' pictures of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., contrasting with his simmering, violent mentality.

A further strength of the film is the inner, constructive controversy which this male friendship may arouse in some viewers. Brother Tied positively revels in the friendship between an Afro-American and a young Caucasian. The difficulties they face because of their ethnic differences only seem to bring them closer together. But Brother Tied romanticises the friendship with an African American from a white man's point of view. It is always Cassius who is going to approach Cal, offering him friendship and a roof over his head. In the same way it is Cassius who initiates physical contact. He puts his arm round Cal's shoulder, his face approaches the camera which has been concentrating on Cal's face, it is to be his hand that shaves Cal's throat or cuts his hair (the latter being another, typically ambivalent homoerotic metaphor, particularly of Asian films). This imbalance in the portrayal of the friendship will practically force white audiences who share similarly romantic attitudes to wonder exactly what Cassius is getting out of this friendship. Some may find enough satisfaction in giving to others, but Cassius really embodies the image of a rough-and-ready type some whites aspire to, but who, despite his active role in the friendship, is only passively rewarded by it. This makes Brother Tied the friendly/romantic version of the general trend towards the sexualising of minorities in gay films.