Although not as quite as wholly original and fresh as The Zellner Brother’s “Damsel”, which came out in the summer of this year, Jacques Audiard’s “The Sisters Brothers” is a brilliant masterwork that makes us believe how the 1850’s decade was all slimmed out and how unlimited and murk the society would be compared to our current world. Both filmmakers have a rewarding style of filmmaking that cherishes Paul Thomas Anderson’s perfected work of “There Will Be Blood” to pure eternity.
Audiard’s film illustrates an story where it displays two malicious assassins (John C. Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix), whom have somewhat of a displeasing time developing a relationship together. They both discover themselves in the San Francisco gold rush since they follow a obsessive gold prospector (Riz Ahmed), brought out by John Morris (Jake Gyllenhaal), on his way from Oregon to that particular location.
The greatest aspect I admire about this film is that it does not go in the route of “Shanghai Noon”, where although a fun movie, it does something unrealistic and mainstream when it somewhat doesn’t feel like the deadly wild west. It would evaluate as a disjointed vehicle between Rob Cohen (The Fast and the Furious) and Sergio Leone (The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly). It would not mean that the remake of “The Magnificent Seven” would not even be tolerable just because I said that “Shanghai Noon” was still a fun film.
In “The Sisters Brothers” however, it feels extremely audacious in terms of the way people communicate and even listen to others. There would be limited consequence, constant arguing, rowdy and stubborn attitude, and torturous violence. The meaning of this would support evidence from a scene in the film where Charlie Sisters enormously flips a wooden table at a saloon in front of his “brother” Eli.
John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix blend perfect attitude and character as both Eli and Charlie Sisters. They have the matching of a relationship in the 1850’s where the viewers hope that they do lack any sturdiness in their characteristics. The reason being is because viewers while watching this film can picture that regardless of their looks, they can still act young and immature while communicating to one another. It can point out especially during the opening scene where they are occurring a shoot out in the sundown of Oregon and they are bickering while on the journey.
The same can be said for both Riz Ahmed and Jake Gyllenhaal as Hermann and John respectively. Gyllenhaal while playing this character reminded me of a young and brisk Daniel Plainview from “There Will Be Blood” when on the other hand, Hermann reminded me of a more graphic Zero from “The Grand Budapest Hotel”. The sequences between him and Hermann are sometimes intimidating though less solemn than Eli and Charlie Sisters where it just seems that there is something like a glacier that blocks them from being just plain satisfied.
Another thing I admire about this film is that it captures the bold and epic feelings of the 1850’s western atmosphere, where in the opening credits, there would be a time when the viewers experience a glimmering image of a neon blue sky showing clouds beneath it while hearing a deep and somber violin score by Alexandre Desplat (The Imitation Game, The Grand Budapest Hotel). There would be another time when the viewers experience John and the Sisters in a hick and cheap looking desert and a pool, where their behaviors and communication come into full play. This reminds me of the cinematography of Masanobu Takayanagi’s gripping cinematography of another great modern western, Scott Cooper’s “Hostiles”.
Audiard’s “The Sisters Brothers” takes us on a rousing journey that displays the society of the western behaviors and communication, while in addition, incorporating such a hornet’s nest of a story as well as exhibiting many tones and feelings in the specific environment. Honestly, when I really think of it, both this and “Damsel” would be a perfect double feature for audiences to emphasize and study the conflicts of the journeys each person has to encounter through.
Grade: 9/10
