My Brother The Devil is a British film released in 2012
both written and directed by Sally El Hosaini who ironically is of Egyptian
descent and has worked on many films previous to this focused around Arab
culture. The production companies involved in the creation of this film are
Rooks Nest Entertainment, Wild Horses Film Company, Film-Clinic and sponsored by
the BFI and National Lottery. The genre of this film is solely crime and coming
of age as the narrative is brought upon the life of living with crime amongst
British gangs and without this aspect of the film; My Brother The Devil wouldn’t
have been possible to create. The filming location for where this film has been
set is really ironic to why the director chose to film in Hackney, situated in
London. Hackney is widely known for its violent gangs and gang rivalry
particularly in this area which has gained the place a bad reputation among
people who reside in London as a whole. Themes explored in this film are despair, homosexuality, death/grief,
honour and power.
The cinematography in this beginning of the film is
significant for the audiences view on both protagonists of the film. The
rotating camera shot between Hassan and his younger brother Mo emphasis their
bond of a brotherly love and displays how happy they are together to raise
importance within both of the protagonists which is delivered as information to
the audience that the film is going to revolve around the bond between the two
brothers. However right from this point in the film, the audience, doesn’t
really suspect that the older brother is a well-known thug within the gangland
that they live in. This is implied from the props in the scene, being what
Hassan is wearing which is a polo shirt with a gym bag strapped around his
torso. Typically gang members are represented to wear hoodies and a full tracksuit
with a sinister look on their face. Hassan does indeed wear tracksuit bottoms
in this scene but this can be supported from the previous scene where Hassan is
presented boxing in a boxing gym. As we first see Rashid boxing in the gym, the
close up shot used on his face with the constant editing of switching scenes to
gang life creates meaning as to how he uses boxing as a means of escape from
reality, the life he has to live, which causes him grief but knowing he wants
to get more stronger to prove himself to his friends and family.
Frequently when Mo proceeds to socialize with his older
brother when he’s around his fellow gang members, Rashid always tries to find
the chance to describe Mo in a derogative manner which makes Mo feel
uncomfortable and mentally hurt, presented through the close up shots of Mo’s
face to view his facial expression. I
feel that Rashid does this in an attempt to prevent an attachment to Mo and the
gang he’s in and would do anything, even put on an act of a persona to not
involve his younger brother into the cruel gang culture as he cares for his
wellbeing and sees a bright future for him.
The death of Rashid’s long term friend, Tizzy, is shot in
a rather interesting way that leaves the audience thinking. The wide shot of Tizzy
dead on the floor next to the dog that had been stabbed to death is a metaphor used
by the director to show how the gang members themselves are no less than
animals while also simultaneously symbolises how they are viewed from society’s
standpoint. On the other hand, when Rashid prepares himself to kill Demon by
pointing the gun at the mirror, the shot creates meaning to show that he’s
going to kill himself, hence the gun pointing at his reflection. This also
foreshadows the trap he’s going to fall into which was set up by old gang
comrades.
We tend to notice that however best Rashid tries to help
out his family, always ends in his parents being unappreciative of how he goes
about doing this, such as where and how he got the money judging from having no
job. We can see this from the scene where he purchases a television for his
younger brother Mo, as soon as the parents change the mood from happiness to
the audience feeling guilt; he takes away the gift in anguish. This is backed
up by the secretive moments where Rashid attempts to place money in his mother’s
purse without actually giving it to her by hand or telling her about it, to
avoid arguments. Judging from how his
families living conditions from the establishing shot of the estate to the
frequent power cuts in the flat, the audience can understand why Rashid lives a
life of crime. This fuels the character development of the protagonist Rashid
and foreshadows how he would handle future situations later on in the film.
The non-digetic soundtracks used by the director in
certain scenes that show emotional depth to them is there to generate the
effect to make you feel what those characters are feeling within the film, the
soundtracks being a melodic track emphasizes the mood of the scene itself, so
the audience can relate to what the director wants us to feel emotionally. Mo’s
transition from being a boy who looks up to Rashid as a role model to him
fulfilling that role let’s the audience know through the technical codes that
this route ultimately leads to death. The technical codes to foreshadow this are
presented when Mo is getting drunk with his friends on the estate, the
background song’s lyrics state “I’ll never give up, I’mma keep going” which
coincides with the spark the girl is holding which symbolizes Mo’s life, the
spark burns out that means if Mo continues with this life, he’s going to die an
early death. Another example is in a similar scene with the girl hes talking
to, he looks right and a close up of his face looking past a pole vandalized that
reads “LIVE EAST DIE YOUNG”.
The title of the film, 'My Brother The Devil', is really ironic in terms of what first thought that comes to mind as the audience begins to watch the film from judging the title. As Rashid is the older brother we can realise that he is the dominant sibling compared to Mo, which automatically brings attention to him that Rashid may in fact be 'The Devil' out of the two brothers, due to his involvement in the drug trade and criminal activity, while oblivious that he's influencing the 'innocent' younger brother, Mo. We can certainly see this through the placement of the actors on the poster, as Rashid is in front and Mo is staring at his brothers back. On the other hand the title of the film contradicts itself as Mo is in fact the one with negative intentions as his actions within Rashid's previous gang resulted in the trapping of his older brother and led to the attempted murder of Rashid who was in fact only trying to protect and support his family through illegal methods.
Additionally the narrative structure is a linear type of
narrative as the plot continues going forward without any time skips. The
narrative is as follows, Mo who is a young teenager growing up in an Egyptian
household idolizes his older brother Rashid, who’s a charismatic thug part of a
gang that deals with the dealing of drugs. Rashid’s aim is to support his
younger brother Mo through college while guiding him to a better life than his
own and to help his family out financially. However Rashid doesn’t realize his
illegal wrong doings is actually inspiring Mo to live a life of crime until he realizes
at the most crucial point of his life once his sexual awakening arises, with
the knowledge of this found out from Mo this sets to tear the once loveable
brotherly bond apart. The religious aspects within this film are really ironic
as coming from a Muslim religious background, Rashid attempts to read about the
prophet Mohammed to try and help him focus on a better path in life, but he
turning out to be a homosexual contradicts this as it doesn’t follow the ways
of Islam.
The film concludes with the two protagonists having a positive
conversation and looking back on what
they’ve been through along with the ending shot being a long shot of Rashid
walking off with his back turned. I felt like this was a disappointing ending
as I’d expected something dramatic to happen when he walks off, or an insight
to see what they’re going to do with their lives from the present till the
future.
