At a boarding school for Kurdish boys, we meet Yusuf (Samet Yildiz) and Memo (Nurullah Alaca) on the way to their weekly bath. The camera follows Yusuf closely as he follows the queue into the bathroom. As he bathes, we hear a disturbance. Yusuf sees Memo arguing and fighting with a boy in a nearby stall. A teacher overhears the fight and swoops in to end it. He doles out punishment: The boys must use cold water to finish their bath. In the bedroom later that night, Memo jostles Yusuf awake. He asks if they could share a bed as he is having night terrors again. Yusuf brushes him off and goes back to sleep.
The next morning, Memo is unresponsive when it’s time to get ready for breakfast. Yusuf takes it upon himself to care for his friend as one would a brother, but uncaring adults, a broken school bureaucracy, and anti-Kurdish sentiment make it difficult for the young boy. When deep snow causes the over-taxed heating system to malfunction, these issues coalesce into a life-or-death struggle to help treat Memo’s mysterious illness.
This tragic drama is well-shot, acted, and edited. Brother’s Keeper does an outstanding job of making the viewer feel as small and powerless as Yusuf as the camera follows him and often becomes his gaze. The story itself is very straightforward until a twist is revealed in the film’s final moments. While certainly not a mystery movie, Brother’s Keeper has an element of a whodunnit in the presence of Memo’s unknown ailment and a school staff that is more concerned with placing blame than helping Memo.
The viewer is driven to try and figure out what is wrong with Memo and who will be held at fault as new information is brought to light. Brother’s Keeper is an outstanding slice-of-life drama with excellent use of staging and symbolism which will keep viewers on the edge of their seats. Highly Recommended.
Where does this title belong on public library shelves?
Brother’s Keeper belongs on foreign language drama shelves.