Brother's Keeper

Director: Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky Joe Berlinger

Overview

"The absorbing documentary Brother's Keeper marks its tenth anniversary with this very good DVD. The film itself is presented in a standard full-frame transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital Stereo. Supplemental materials include a commentary track recorded by co-directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky, new footage, deleted scenes, the original trailer, and a still photo gallery. This is an outstanding release."

Product Details

Release Date:	07/29/2003
UPC:	0767685954232
Original Release:	1992
Rating:	R
Source:	New Video Group
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:45:00

Special Features

Filmmaker commentary by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky; Deleted scenes; Never-before-seen short film: "The Wards Take Manhattan"; Photo gallery; Original theatrical trailer featuring Spalding Gray; Filmmaker biographies; Interactive menus; Scene selection

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jay Ungar

Composer

Technical Credits

Joe Berlinger	Director,Executive Producer,Producer
Bruce Sinofsky	Director,Producer
Lindsay Law	Executive Producer

Editorial Reviews

The ability of Brother's Keeper to deal with so many different subjects -- problems of the elderly and mentally challenged, the debate over mercy killing, the shifting definitions of community -- is its greatest strength. Because there is a trial for murder at the center of this story, the film is also about the limitations of our justice system to deal with acts that fall in a gray area that borders on criminality. Delbert Ward may have helped his older brother Bill to die, but given the circumstances -- Bill's debilitating illness, Delbert and his brothers' inability to administer proper care, and their extreme sense of isolation -- passing legal judgment on the act is almost impossible. The film is most provocative in depicting the attitudinal shifts the citizens of Munnville, from indifference and even suppressed hostility to the Ward brothers to passionate defense of them as fellow citizens of a rural community that prides its being removed from the rest of the world. Would residents of an urban apartment building rally around their neighbors with the same kind of antipathy to outsiders? Brother's Keeper is that rare documentary that raises questions without definitively answering any of them.