Movie Review: La Mujer de Mi Hermano
Posted on January 22, 2007
A tale of lust and betrayal coming from Mexico, “La Mujer de Mi Hermano” (“My Brother’s Wife”) was an interesting high drama film that explores the boundaries of love and sexuality. Here’s a plot summary from IMDB:
After almost 10 years of marriage, attractive Zoe discovers that her marriage lacks passion and surprise, and is seduced by the possibility of finding those sensations already forgotten in her husband’s brother. From this premise a series of events lead these three characters to a dangerous game of revenges, secrets and passions. Two brothers and one woman: the triangle is outlined in a disquieting way. It is a bomb that triggers family secrets, the contained rage of desire and the unmanageable power of love. An exciting story that subjugates the viewer from beginning to end.
I’m not sure what subjugating the viewer was supposed to mean, but thanks, anonymous. Zoe, played by the insanely hot Barbara Mori is the wife of vain and uptight Ignacio. Zoe and Ignacio want to have a child, but are unable to concieve. Tired of their lack of a love life, (Ignacio will only have sex with her once a week, on Saturdays) Zoe begins to look to Ignacio’s free-spirited brother Gonzalo. Ignacio comes off as a real prick through out the movie, but he’s in a difficult position, and we soon learn that Gonzalo isn’t all that he seems. As a side not, Gonzalo shoots with a Nikon camera and uses an iBook, so awesome for him. Giving Zoe guidance throughout the movie is her gay friend Boris, who is perhaps a bit over the top, but supportive of her. Beto Cuevas, of Chileno band La Ley (iTunes link) plays a priest who is a friend of Ignacio’s as well.
Filled with lots of very slow camera movements, deep-field focus shots, and dramatic camera angles to create a lot of beautiful shots that build up the seriousness of the film. The love triangle theme is further represented visually throughout the movie, almost every scene in the movie is split into thirds. It’s particularly noticable in Ignacio and Zoe’s stunning house, where there is a blatant grid behind the characters, otherwise one character’s head will fill 1/3rd of the frame while another character, further off, will fill 2/3rds of the frame. These are the things you notice when you learn about design and cinemaphotography.
The movie is interesting in the way it handles each character’s sexuality, and everything is way more fucked up than you realize. The ending was kind of low, overall, and the slowness of the movie means I could only give it three stars. But it’s still worth a rent, so check it out.
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