"Agnes and His Brothers" is a German movie from over 10 years ago that runs for almost 2 hours and was written and directed by Oskar Roehler, still among Germany's most respected filmmakers these days. The lead actors in here are Martin Weiß, Moritz Bleibtreu and Herbert Knaup and the title is a reference to Weiß' transsexual character. I guess they really wanted to get this little joke in terms of "her"/"his" in here, even if the story does not warrant it. It's still mildly funny, so the title is not a complete failure. However, I have not measured it, but I am fairly certain that Agnes was the one from the trio that had less screen time than the other 2. And also in terms of memorability, Agnes is not the winner here. It certainly is Bleibtreu. He has been among Germany's most famous actors for a long time already, over 15 years I guess, and I have not always been too happy with his performances. Here, however, he is easily the best thing about this movie. His character was so well-written and he totally nails the part. It is actually pretty sad, but because of how accurate everything seems about him it even put a smile on my lips.
Apart from the lead trio, there are also a couple famous supporting actors in here, such as Tom Schilling, Martin Semmelrogge, Til Schweiger in a cameo etc. Katja Riemann won a German Film Award for her turn here, which truly baffles me as I saw nothing outstanding about her character or performance. Also included is Lee Daniels, the director from "precious" and "The Butler" and I really did not expect him in here the first time I saw this. So random. Today was the second time I watched this movie and I enjoyed it again. Real greatness is missing if we look past Bleibtreu's scenes and I did not really like the ending either, but as a whole it was still a good watch. Recommended and I wonder why Weiß stopped being in films a long time ago, while the 2 actors who play his character's brothers are still incredibly relevant today.
Apart from the lead trio, there are also a couple famous supporting actors in here, such as Tom Schilling, Martin Semmelrogge, Til Schweiger in a cameo etc. Katja Riemann won a German Film Award for her turn here, which truly baffles me as I saw nothing outstanding about her character or performance. Also included is Lee Daniels, the director from "precious" and "The Butler" and I really did not expect him in here the first time I saw this. So random. Today was the second time I watched this movie and I enjoyed it again. Real greatness is missing if we look past Bleibtreu's scenes and I did not really like the ending either, but as a whole it was still a good watch. Recommended and I wonder why Weiß stopped being in films a long time ago, while the 2 actors who play his character's brothers are still incredibly relevant today.