244. Empathy and Revisiting 'Brother's Keeper' (1992)

Show Notes

Recent events have gotten me thinking about Roger Ebert's quote about movies being empathy machines, bringing us closer to people we might think we have nothing in common with.

When I first saw the Berlinger/Sinofsky documentary 'Brother's Keeper' I was overwhelmed with empathy and heartbreak and humor and feeling for these odd-duck brothers and their ramshackle farm existence and the small town in Upstate New York that became roiled by a murder trial when one brother was accused of killing another by smothering.

And so, not having seen the film in many decades, I wanted to revisit it, to see if it retained its power and ability to create empathy.

In this episode I start with a brief prologue talking about first encountering the film.  Then I pause and rewatch the film and come back on the mic to share my thoughts on seeing the movie anew.

'Brother's Keeper' is one of the first films I would mention to anyone who wanted to know what movies of any genre I held closest to my life as a moviegoer. If you've seen it, you'll know what I mean. If this podcast episode is the first you're hearing of it, I hope you'll give it a watch, and let me know what you think!