Die schwarzen Brüder (2013) User Reviews

Seeing through it

[kosmasp · 5/10 · 2 February 2015]

A predictable kids tale if there is one. But it's not that bad, even though one of the most charismatic German actors has to be as one-sided as I have ever seen him (talking about Moritz Bleibtreu). But it's not his movie or his story as it is more about the young boys who had to endure a lot early on in their lives.

The film is based on a book which is based on real life events from "back in the day". That makes the story interesting, but the weight seems to have been a bit too much to carry (no pun intended). While there are quite a few moments that will shock you or generally get you caught up in the moment, the overall sense is that something is missing. You can't blame the kids too much and the movie kind of decent, if you like those sort of movies

the atmosphere

[Kirpianuscus · 18 July 2018]

At first sigh, adaptation of one of Charles Dickens 's novel. at the second - the same. a nice film for the reflection of social context. for the hope message. for the good performances. and for the good intentions. because the basic problem of film is to be beautiful but not convincing. a children drama, their virtue, death and courage against the dark world of adults. but each scene something is missing. for feel the story out of its theoretic connotations. short, see it. for the atmosphere Dickens-like.

If this film was a chimney, it's in need of a sweeping too

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 18 August 2014]

"Die schwarzen Brüder" / "The Black Brothers" does not refer to the boys' skin colors, but this is a movie about a bunch of young chimney sweeps. It is another piece of German children literature brought to the screen and, almost 25 years after his Academy Award win, director Xavier Koller's newest project.

The story is summarized quickly: We see a woman getting injured and her husband has to sell their boy for a little while, so he can afford treatment for his wife. The kid is taken by another man for a whole year and asked to clean chimneys. After that, we see all the common themes from kids movies. There's others with the same fate. There is another gang who are the main rivals aside from the man who bought him and there's a girl who is the love interest to the central character, the sister of somebody from the other gang. Hello Romeo and Juliet. A kind-hearted priest helps the boys where he can.

The change in mind of the other gang after they did get beaten up doesn't seem really credible, and, all in all, it's just too stereotypical and brings nothing really new to the genre. I like good children's films, but this one just feels like there's no real heart in it and Moritz Bleibtreu's character is also more of a caricature than a scary villain. None of the many child actors is really outstanding either. There's many better German children's movies out there. Skip this one.

Underrated by other reviews(?) Watch it with your kids :)

[john-graboski · 8/10 · 25 December 2023]

I saw this wonderfully portrayed sort of coming of age story from 19th century Italy, in German. The acting and script writing is very good, with lots of nuanced moments. The sets and cinematography are first rate; smokey, dark and dirty settings add much to the atmosphere. It's a child-friendly story that exposes (without over exposing) child labor of the time. The cruelty of the time is present but the human and child spirit endures. Other reviews haven't been so positive and this might have to do with English translation. Predictable as it may be the story was especially appealing to my 12 yo.