Brielle Hansen Final Film Thought Paper

Brotherhood (2018) is a short film revolving around the involvement of a Tunisian family’s
oldest son in the conflict with Daesh (ISIS) in Syria. Through intimate cinematography and
intentional editing, Brotherhood subtly focuses on the idea that regret moves us to act, but
often too late.
The cinematography in Brotherhood brings the audience very close to the subjects. Overall,
the framing is narrow, with mostly close-up shots of characters faces and extremely shallow
depth of field. This, paired with the constant cool colour temperature, makes the film feel raw
and exposed- forcing the audience to focus on characters’ reactions, which in the case of
Mohamed and Malek both, are ones of regret. When Malek and his younger brothers are at
the beach, the scene opens with the ocean in focus, which then racks focus to Malek’s figure,
drawing attention to what he is going to say. When he tells his brother that he regrets going to
Syria, they are both framed in closeups, with extremely shallow depth of field, forcing the
audience to pay close attention to the dialogue. Later, as the action moves on, continued use
of shallow focus, only on the ocean rather than the building they are on, or on their hands
working on the nets, draws attention away from the dialogue to give the audience time to
ponder what Malek said and made his brother promise not to do. Here, the cinematography
emphasises the moment between these brothers- Malek in a previous scene had been
defending why he left, and protecting Neem’s involvement with him, but here the camera
movement draws attention to, and gives time to process, his regret. In the final sequence,
when Neem tells the parents about Malek protecting her so they could escape, Mohamed’s
reaction gets similar emphasis, but in a different way. Malek’s regret seems to be behind him
now, in the past. But for Mohamed, his regret is present. In the moment when he comes to his
realization, the camera does not zoom in, as it has been for the rest of the film, but it zooms
out subtly, moving to a full medium shot. The focus becomes shallower, the background
blurring almost completely, and then it switches when he runs in the forest, the background in
focus and Mohamed out of focus. This pull out and switching focus to the environment places
Mohamed more completely in the moment of his regret, rather that reflecting on what he has
done. A final full long shot of his running solidifies this- significant as one of the few long
shots in the whole film. All of this creates the feeling of Mohamed’s regret as immediate and
panicked and raw- surrounding him just as the trees are. The out of focus figure makes
Mohamed seem too late and powerless, which is the situation he has put himself in.
The use of montage and other editing techniques in Brotherhood is also significant to theme
and continuity. In the scene where Neem removes her hijab, and eyeline follow tracks
Mohamed’s focus on Neem, and then again as Malek notices his father’s attention on the girl,
which all creates tension. Cutting between the mother’s bare hands and Neem removing her
gloves brings weight to that moment as well. When Mohamed moves outside and the mother
and Neem both react, the two focuses of attention pull even tighter against each other. After
the argument escalates and she removes her head covering, the pacing places the weight back
on Mohamed. The cut of his face is longer than any other character, seeming to capture his
regret and surprise at the suddenness of it all. The mother, Neem and Malek’ reactions-
simply ones of sadness- get a much shorter amounts of screen time by comparison. The next
cuts are a short piece of Russian montage as the film shows grass, Mohamed’s bloody shirt,
and the sheer fabric divider in their sleeping area. These images seem to compare Neem’s
fabric to the other fabrics around, especially the blood on Mohamed’s shirt, which came as
the prayed to Allah while sacrificing an animal. This clues in to Mohamed’s regret at pushing
her to remove her hijab as the film reminds the audience of Mohamed’s own religious
devotions and teachings to his family. But the film moves on, and again, it is too late for him
to take it back. The pacing around Mohamed is significant again when Malek is taken by the
police. The actual arrest happens quickly, barely in a few seconds and still interspersed with
Mohammed running in the forest. Contrastingly, Mohamed’s screen time of yelling his son’s
name repeatedly is long. This pacing emphasises Mohamed’s reaction to the event, rather
than the event itself, giving the audience plenty of time to contemplate just how much
Mohamed will regret this moment.
One final detail of editing that emphasis and compares Malek and Mohamed’s regret is the
shot of the sky with the low horizon broken up by the Joshua tree. This shot was cut in
directly after Malek’s exchange with Chakar, as he discussed his regrets going to Syria, and
is also the background for the credits, directly after Mohamed’s biggest moment of regret.
This places father and son in comparison, and leaves the audience feeling their regret, and
pondering what actions both will have to take now.
But of course, it is too late for both to take back what they did, and the cinematography and
editing within Brotherhood emphasises the regret that both feel.