Two Brothers (Full Screen Edition)

Director Jean-Jacques Annaud knows how to open our hearts.

In 1988 his acclaimed masterpiece, THE BEAR, introduced us to that orphaned cub whose feisty and inquisitive ways quickly won the viewers over. This time, with TWO BROTHERS, it's Annaud's extraordinary tigers that warm our hearts and stir our sympathies.

In the ruins of the jungle-covered temples of 1930s French Indochina two tiger cubs are born, later named by their human masters Kumal and Sangha. Kumal is the fierce one. He is brave, curious and quite protective of the playful but rather timid Sangha.

The world of men brings tragedy to the tiger family. The cubs' father is killed and Kumal, separated from his mother and brother, is captured and eventually sold to a small-time circus. Soon after, Sangha also gets caught by a hunting party. Initially a pet and playmate for the local French administrator's young son, he unfortunately ends up in the menagerie of a native prince where he is 'trained' (in another words, tortured) to become a fighter for sport.

A year later we see that Man's sadism and greed has caused a twisted role reversal on the tigers. The once aggressive Kumal is now a skilled circus attraction, complacent in doing tricks for his masters. Sangha, his timid and loving nature beaten and starved out of him, is now a trained and angry killer. When the prince challenges the circus to have their tiger fight his champion, Kumal and Sangha are reunited as enemies.

As every pet owner will tell you, animals are as much individuals as any human being. Each cat or dog is unique, possessing his or her own personality, character, intelligence. Annaud's magic is in his abilty to capture that special spirit of every animal he films. As with THE BEAR, this gifted filmmaker doesn't merely focus on the animals' physical beauty, he goes deeper, highlighting feelings and emotions. One sees the sense of loss on the face of the exhausted mother tiger when she can no longer keep up with the speed of the car that carries away her remaining cub. Baby Kumal's precocious ferocity shows in his powerful eyes and the snarl of his mouth. Love and anger, joy and remorse show upon the faces and body movements of these tigers. The scene where the old tiger, Mighty Caesar, is being led outside to be put down and looks up at the cub Kumal, who he had taken under his nuturing protection, conveys not only all of his life's sadness and regret, it also tries to offer one last lesson and a hope to this little one who will now be replacing him. Most human actors today could only wish they possessed half of this cat's expressive abilities.

Speaking of human actors, I must mention the great performance that Guy Pearce gives as the English adventurer and hunter, Aidan McRory. His character truly is the one most responsible for the unlucky fate of the tiger cubs. To protect one of his baggage handlers, he shoots the two brothers' father and takes away Kumal. McRory, however, quickly grows fond of little Kumal and his experiences with the cub eventually lead him to abandon sport hunting. Another fantastic actor here is Freddie Highmore, who plays the young French boy who loves Sangha.

TWO BROTHERS, filmed on-location in Cambodia and Thailand, is one entrancing film that will hold your interest and your heart. From the opening scene of the male tiger stalking the jungle's density in search of a mate until the end, when the brother tigers must make their decisions, you will feel a part of this world.

A beautiful and magical movie.

You must own this wonderful movie. It is a celebration of the wild, a celebration of Nature, and a glimpse of paradise where the beasts of the jungle live in eternal bliss. Even if you own the wide screen version, you should also get it in full screen because the closeups of the tigers' faces awesomely fill the screen.

I'd like to say that this movie is AMAZING, and all of the reviewers who rated it sourly are crazy. It's not just a heart warming tale, it's one with many mixed feelings. So much happens, and it really draws you in.

They used real tigers! A big, juicy point towards it being good. It wasn't all CGI crime fighting tigers from Mars, like many movies they make these days. It was all so real, and at times you forget it's a movie.

I'd advise you to get it, and if you don't, you're REALLY MISSING OUT!

While others have given a more typical review of the film, I find it absolutely horrifying that man can be such a complicit piece of s*it - anything worth a penny and 99 % of the 'human' race will sell his own mother.

This earth is dying, looking around us those with sense and heart can hear the screams of nature and feel the tentacles of destruction. Whether its Tigers, as in Two Brothers or the case of everyday life being destroyed with multi-nationals like McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Exxon Mobil, Shell and so on, one thing is certain - just because you don't pick up that gun to poach or log that tree, the mere fact that you do nothing but sit on your behind and go 'shame' is the final nail in the coffin.

When all is said and done, when China has killed the last Tiger because they think that it's power will be transferred to them; when Exxon and Shell have dug up so many oil veins that the Amazon is no more; when american people become so fat that they can no longer drive down to McDonalds for 'that special meal,' then comes the day that the rest of us suffer along side worthless beings who do not deserve to live on this beautiful planet.

Look behind the actions of the film maker and see the message behind the message. Man will not survive if he does not look after that which looks after him.

THIS MOVIE IS SO GOOD, I HAVE WATCHED IT SEVERAL TIMES AND PURCHASED IT TWICE. THANKS