Movies have a great knack for accurately (or fantastically) depicting relationships between people. Today, we wanted to focus on the films which specifically focus on the tale of brothers. When we say brothers, of course we really mean a variety of things like: blood brothers, half-brothers, and even adopted brothers. While best guy friends can act like brothers, they’re sadly not making the cut today.
Without further ado, here are some of our favorite films about brothers:
Legends of the Fall
This 1994 American epic follows the tale of three particular brothers. The tale is set in the Western frontier where men lived off of the land. It follows the heartbreak of two older brothers failing to keep their younger brother safe from the war.
It also chronicles their passion for a single woman. This film does a pretty great job of juggling the difficulty of living back in the Western sphere—where Native Indians were not treated like people. It does a wonderful job of seeing the struggles of the heart and the eventual power of family.
Ran
If there was ever a film from the East that really went out to portray the intricacies of family relationship—especially when power played a factor—we highly suggest that you pick up Ran from 1985. The story follows three brothers and their subsequent power struggles to control what territories and legacies their father had left for them.
Life and familial relationships are never as easy as they appear to be. If you have ever wanted to see how the bonds of three brothers were tested, broken, and somewhat rekindled, you may want to tune into this film.
Black Mud
Canada came out swinging with this film. This particular story, much like the one above it is about a coming of age in the life of two young brothers. We liked this film a lot because not only were you able to see the myriad of complexities that came with a child trying to be an adult in a difficult situation but viewers were also treated to the beautiful expanse of Canadian wilderness and landscapes.
In Retrospect
The capacity of movies to fully depict or even inaccurately depict the dynamic between brothers is one of the reasons why we think it is fully fascinating. Everyone will have their own list of their ‘movies about brothers’ list so we hope that you give ours the benefit of the doubt.
That being said, what films about brothers do you keep for your personal collection or queue up in your streaming sites?