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THE BROTHERHOOD
Review by Gordon Justesen
Stars: Kirk
Douglas, Alex Cord, Irene Papas, Luther Adler
Director: Martin Ritt
Audio: English Mono, French Mono
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Studio: Paramount
Features: None
Length: 96 Minutes
Release Date: May 14, 2002
“Frank, I’m in. I’ve always
been in, haven’t I?”
“You don’t know how long
I’ve been waiting to hear you say that.”
In
light of the The Godfather and the sequels that would come later, The
Brotherhood has a certain interest for the plot elements that are similar,
not to mention one brief reference to the Corleone family. Some of these
elements include: a younger brother who is educated with the intention of
keeping him clear of the family business but gets involved of his own volition;
a family head who resists new business lines; and a killing that forces a family
member to retreat to Sicily -- not to mention the usual intrigue, backstabbing,
and intergenerational conflict. The difference is in the scope. The
Brotherhood is a smaller-scale film that focuses on the internal workings of
the Mafia as well as the home family relationships of its members. By focusing
on the latter, the film also seems to be romanticizing what it implies to be the
more admirable older, personal but more overtly violent ways as opposed to the
newer, more insidious and impersonal methods.
Direction
is by Martin Ritt who, during a feature film directing career that spanned 34
years from 1957 to 1990, made a number of interesting films including Hud,
Hombre, and Sounder, The Brotherhood is an efficiently
directed exercise that not only displays some nice location shooting in both New
York and Sicily, but also does so with interesting camera placement and
movement. One shot of Douglas approaching on foot along a long, deserted walkway
by the water is effectively used to emphasize how isolated his character has
become in the film, for example.
Before
Coppola’s Godfather Trilogy, there weren’t many films made which
delved into the personal lives of those employed in the mafia, and Martin
Ritt’s The Brotherhood is perhaps the finest pre-Godfather entry
I’ve thus far come across. Terrific performances, led by another memorable one
from Kirk Douglas, help enhance the emotional center of the story to a high
level.
Released
in 1968, the film was originally not given an actual movie rating. Thirty years
after its release, Paramount has rightfully applied a PG-13 rating for some
brief moments of harsh violence. It’s a rare type of ratings move that I can
certainly say is much appropriate.
Paramount
has become one of the top-quality DVD producers in the last couple of years, but
the hardest part for any studio, I suppose, is making light of their aged
classics. The Brotherhood is nicely anamorphically enhanced, but the
image itself comes off as a bit more than dated, with noticeable grain, and
instances of image softness. Overall it’s not all that bad, but the on and off
picture flaws were somewhat distracting at times.
A 2.0 Mono track is all that is supplied here, and thus cannot
really deliver in any other area except that of dialogue delivery. In short,
just your basic mono track turnout.
Features
(Zero Stars)
Nothing.
Summary: