Big brother... Life is not easy, you can be beautiful, but not always happy. How are you...
- I'm all right!
- No, that's not true. You can be a tough macho, a boxer, but you can't. You are different at heart.
Cool cinema, vital, emotional, bribing with the truthfulness of images, but the main thing is interesting. Richard Price, based on the novel of the same name, was born and raised in the Bronx. Maybe that is why the characters turned out to be so lively and detailed that the movie captivates literally from the very first frames. We have real people in front of us, with their problems and concerns. This is a film about difficult family relationships, brotherly love and difficult choice of life path. The problem of the conflict of generations was relevant at all times. Children do not want to follow in the footsteps of their father’s working-class dynasty. Everything is aggravated by a complex family drama. Robert Mulligan skillfully showed us a slice of society at the time. He, in principle, is not used to depict the specifics of relations in an Italian family, take the same "Love with a suitable stranger." But it's a lot more complicated. The father simply does not understand his offspring, because this is how his father and grandfather lived. But this generation is different, more sensitive.
Some people start shitting others, saying I'm cooler. They're assholes! A man should not put himself above others, he should be himself.
Note that in the 70s, the topic of sketches from the life of urban slums (like the notorious “Hell’s Kitchen”) was very popular. It was with such roles that Stallone began, it is enough to recall his films Lords of Fletbush or Alley of Paradise. Interestingly, the wonderful music of Elmer Bernstein, painfully reminiscent of the theme from “Rocky”. He was also an Italian from poor neighborhoods. So you can even draw some parallels. In general, Stoney De Coco is a typical representative of his generation. He is no longer a rebel without the ideal that James Dean was in the '50s. Hero Gere only wants to escape from the tyranny of his father, deciding how to live. This was the character of Steve McQueen in another Mulligan film, Baby, It Must Rain.
You've become the real De Coco. Fights, bruises, rudeness...
And although many consider Gere’s best role “Days of Harvest”, for me, the most striking role in the acting plan is precisely the role in “Blood Brothers”. After watching almost all of Richard’s films, I can say that. I must say, he performed it brilliantly, creating an ambiguous, versatile character on the screen. Then still a novice actor, gave here on the mountain, a whole palette of strong emotions - from despair and anger, to happiness and joy (what is the scene of crying and quarrel with his father, filmed in one long frame). Fortunately, the material was worthy, no wonder the picture was nominated for an Oscar for best script. And despite the more experienced partners, it was Gere who earned the most positive reviews of film criticism. And how organic he was in the hospital scene with the kids. I advise those who see him only as a “beautiful” to watch this movie and understand how talented and versatile this actor is. From the cast, I would single out the magnificent Paul Sorvino, who played a very colorful character of Uncle Chubby.
10 out of 10