My Brother the Devil (Dir. Sally El Hosaini) 2012

Sebastian Black                                       Film Studies A Level                  Thursday 22nd October 2015

My Brother the Devil (Dir. Sally El Hosaini) 2012

My Brother the Devil is a social realistic crime drama & it covers the themes of prejudice, gang violence, love & identity.

Mise-en-Scene:

This film is located in Hackney, London. Hackney has a reputation for having gang violence & this is tailored into the film.

The clothing for Mo & Rash represents their personalities & how they are. Mo wears pink t-shirts & the pink represents Mo being afraid of fighting with other people, he would be considered less masculine & this is shown with the use of the pink t-shirt. Rash however wears “masculine” colours for example the colour blue. This represents Rash as a masculine person.

The clothing also represents the stereotype of what society thinks gang members wear, for example, tracksuit bottoms & hoodies.

The use of the boxing bag tells us that Rash uses it to release his inner emotions. It also tells the audience that there is a purpose as to why he is doing that. The audience feel that he may be training for an upcoming fight for he is training for his protection.

Cinematography:

Compared to the Selfish Giant & Fish Tank, this film has more colour whereas the Selfish Giant & Fish Tank are grey or monotone to relate to the mood & atmosphere of the film. The colours used in this film represent pure hope whereas Fish Tank & the Selfish Giant didn’t have pure hope; the cinematography didn’t show the pure hope.

During the beginning sequence, we see Rash boxing. The shot size is a close up & this allows the audience to see Rash’s facial expressions & it also emphasises what he’s doing.

We see Rash & Mo during the beginning, Mo is on his bike & he is circling around Rash. The use of the 360 shot shows us the emotions for both Mo & Rash & the audience get the idea that they both have a close relationship. We can also see the age difference between the two, one looks much younger than the other.

Performance:

The performance of Rash foreshadowed his sexuality. The way Rash acted around Izzi foreshadowed that he was maybe homosexual. His sexuality was only revealed when Rash became close to Sayyid. Sayyid kept on asking questions to Rash when they first met & through James Floyd’s acting, we could tell that Rash was getting uncomfortable & he wanted to leave. After encountering Sayyid, Rash asks questions to Izzi & this tells the audience about Rash’s interest in Sayyid

Mohammed “Mo” looks up to his older brother Rash. Although Rash is with the bad crowd, Mo doesn’t see it as that because as far as he’s concerned, Rash is providing money for the family & Rash is trying to give the family a better life than their current one & Mo wants to do this, he wants to follow in Rash’s footsteps.