In a display of authoritarian punishment, the principal (Mahir Ipek) of the Turkish boarding school where Ferit Karahan’s Brother’s Keeper is set seeks to remind the 11-year-olds under his care that they should feel lucky to be there. They get a stellar education (while having the Kurdish beat out of those who come from the Kurdistan region). They get three square meals a day (a pathetic ladleful of three creamy liquids and half a bread loaf to dip). And they’re even allowed to shower once a week (such luxury). Unfortunately, as a clandestine phone call home reveals (cells are off-limits), these prison-like conditions are luxurious to some. Most of these kids come from poor families of nine children with no real opportunities.
It’s thus unsurprising that a hierarchy of power forms throughout the building, whether amongst the adults, the children, or the obvious imbalance between the two.
It’s thus unsurprising that a hierarchy of power forms throughout the building, whether amongst the adults, the children, or the obvious imbalance between the two.
- 10/18/2022
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Oliver Twist meets “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu” in Ferit Karahan’s sophomore feature, “Brother’s Keeper.” Set in a snowbound boarding school on the eastern edges of Turkey, the film tells the story of a boy desperate to get help for his sick friend yet stymied at every turn by bullying teachers and corrupt administrators. While Karahan (“The Fall From Heaven”) builds the narrative in a resolutely effective manner, ensuring the child’s increasing desperation gets under the audience’s skin, the scenario’s predictability and the stereotyped depiction of the adults impede emotional involvement.
Institutional coldness typifies everything about this large school situated in a neglected part of the country, staffed by cruel instructors perpetuating an age-old cycle of abuse. Showers are allowed only once a week, the hot water (when there is hot water) a welcome relief from the frigid climate and the broken heating pipes. But when some boys get unruly,...
Institutional coldness typifies everything about this large school situated in a neglected part of the country, staffed by cruel instructors perpetuating an age-old cycle of abuse. Showers are allowed only once a week, the hot water (when there is hot water) a welcome relief from the frigid climate and the broken heating pipes. But when some boys get unruly,...
- 3/18/2021
- by Jay Weissberg
- Variety Film + TV
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