This is a bleak drama of the outer Hebrides outside Scotland around 1900, when conditions of life were very basic. On the island of Skye there are two families at odds with each other since ages, and there is a vendetta mentality inherited in generation after generation. When this story begins the main family (MacRae) consists of a father (Finlay Currie) and his two mature sons, when they are entrusted with a girl (Patricia Roc) by the local priest in the lack of social security. She is an orphan but is happy to be taken care of and cooperate, and there is no trouble, until a son of the rival family starts courting her. There the complications start mounting. There are some really wonderful scenes here that actually makes this film a classic for making original life in this remote world real on the screen - everything here is perfectly realistic and almost over-convincing. Superstition, old legends, second sight, amazing traditions are all blended together to make this unforgettable film of real life as it was on the Hebrides in 1900. There is a fantastic duel being fought by rowing in a boat, the two teams vying to tire each other out. This whole scene pinpointing the clan feud is actually the highlight of the film. Of course, the two brothers can't have a lovely woman living among them without both of them going lovesick in one way or another, especially as she is also courted by the family of enemies. The cinematography is a feast for the eyes all the way through, so is the highly dramatic music, and the acting couldn't have been performed better by more advanced professionals. The film is strongly reminding of the best Scottish films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, and in fact their film, "I Know Where I Am Going" a few years later must have been highly inspired by this fabulous and unequalled gem of a film.
Review of The Brothers
