The Sisters Brothers is based on the novel by Patrick DeWitt, and stars John C Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix as Eli and Charlie Sisters, two hired killers in the old west. They are following John Morris (Jake Gyllenhaal) , a detective who has been tracking Herman Warm (Riz Ahmed), who claims to have a formula for identifying gold in place in a river. All of this tracking and killing is at the behest of The Commodore, a powerful rich man up in Oregon City, who seems to have everyone in the old west either working for him or trying to steal from him.
Director Jacques Audiard has captured the book's light-hearted approach to two killers in a world where that is the norm, showing the brothers as boyish, innocent and caring amidst their brutality. I chose the film because I had loved the book when I read it, and now I have gone back to re-read the book because the film made me love the characters just as much.
After the film Director Audiard took the stage for a Q &A. He spoke almost entirely in French with another crew member translating for him. I think he speaks some English but was likely more comfortable fielding random questions with a translator to make sure he understood them fully. He told us that he doesn't really like Westerns, but that he sees this story as more of a fairy tale than a western. I wanted to ask him if he had read the book in English or in translation.
This film offered great performances by a strong cast, beautiful cinematography, and a faithful interpretation of a wonderful story, with a little less brutality than the book. One of the best at TIFF 2018!
TIFF 2018 Overview
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