My Brother's Wife (2006)

LA MUJER DE MI HERMANO seems to have polarized viewers between those who classify it as a television novela and those who see it as a stylish Latin American drama. Written by Peruvian author Jaime Bayly, adapted by María Eugenia Argomedo, and directed by Peruvian director Ricardo de Montreuil, the cast boasts actors from Peru (Christian Meier), Colombia (Manolo Cardona), Uruguay (Bárbara Mori), Venezuela (Gaby Espino), Chile (Beto Cuevas), and Mexico (Angélica Aragón, Bruno Bichir). It is a fine showcase for some of the fine talent from Latin America that is gaining a strong influence on theatrical films released in the USA. It offers a story embracing many current dilemmas in society (relationship to church, infidelity, illegitimate pregnancy, homosexuality, childhood sexual abuse) and blends them into a film acted by a fine cast of beautiful and talented actors and artists behind the camera, and the result is a luminous piece of cinema that deserves a second look.Ignacio (Meier) is a handsome, wealthy, emotionally cool man who is married to a sensuous, beautiful, sexually frustrated Zoe (Mori), The couple may appear to have it all - splendid house, wealth, expensive tastes - but they have been unable to have children in their ten year marriage. The disparity between their sexual needs results in Zoe finding solace in the arms of Ignacio's bohemian artist brother Gonzalo and they begin an affair that results in a surprise pregnancy. This crisis unveils the truth about the characters: Gonzalo, still reeling from the childhood sexual abuse by his older brother Ignacio, doesn't want fatherhood and marriage, and in the peak of the tremor the pregnancy creates Gonzalo shares Ignacio's homosexuality with Zoe. How the three confront their needs and fears pulls the story to a close, an ending that addresses fully the characteristic traits that have shaped the lives of the three.In addition to the trio of stars there are excellent cameos by Bruno Bichir as Zoe's gay confidant, Angélica Aragón as the mother of the men whose greatest need is for grandchildren, Gaby Espino as the housekeeper Laura, and Beto Cuevas as the priest who is not only a friend of the family but hears the secrets of each in the confessional. The cinematography is lush and evocative in the competent hands of Andrés Sánchez and the tension of the story is well underscored by the music of Angelo Milli. For this viewer LA MUJER DE MI HERMANO is a classy film that brings attention to the many fine new works coming from Latin American cinema. It is well worth revisiting. Grady Harp

A LOT OF SPOILERS HERE, SO BEWARE There has been considerable fuss over this movie, and I'm not sure why. Rather than being 'shocking,' as some have called it, I found it pretty predictable, primarily because the characters are clichés that have been familiar figures in movies over the past 10 or 15 years.'Mujer, etc.' is a Peruvian film that is really a stylish soap opera. We have the conflicted husband Ignacio (Christiane Meier) who can't conceive; the unhappy, confused and childless wife Zoe (Barbara Mori); and the husband's brother, a scruffy, ever-cool, always foul-mouthed Gonzalo (Manolo Cardona), who also just happens to be a talented artist (why are these people never accountants or claims adjusters?). Gonzalo wants to sexually possess the wife rather than love her, more out of revenge and hatred for his brother.And then, to round up the usual clichéd suspects, we have the nonthreatening, flaming gay guy Boris (Bruno Bichir) who offers secret, breathless advice to Zoe while confessing, around deeply effeminate giggles, that he finds her husband 'very hot'. Zoe, for reasons that escape me, regularly and inexplicably seeks his counsel. This is some counsel: Boris says Zoe's husband must be gay because if he wasn't he would want to have sex with her every day (this is after 10 years of marriage). With advice like that I'd be looking for another nonthreatening, flaming gay guy.It could be my imagination, but contemporary movies are littered with situations like this: the 'third-party' omniscient gay man who is sought out for advice by confused heterosexual women or men.Director Ricardo de Montreuil tries to explain everything toward the end, and it becomes a pretty awkward 'wrapping up' ceremony. The husband confesses he 'likes men' (i.e. he's always been gay). The wife, who has slept with this guy for 10 whole years, appears to be shocked by his confession. Credibility anyone? The nonthreatening gay guy offers to adopt the wife's baby as his own (and how many times have we seen this scenario?). The wife is content with a child donated by sperm from the rotten brother, who has exacted his revenge on his brother and wants nothing more to do with the wife. The husband carries on, living a gay lifestyle while he continues to live, and sleep, with his wife in an agreement that includes a 'fully loving' relationship. Egads. As if.This director wants us to suspend a whole lot of disbelief in this film, and it just doesn't work, at least for me.

It's about time that a Spanish film has made it to my local Loews (now AMC) movie theater. The quality of the movie was excellent. From the title we immediately know it's a love affair between a man, his wife, and his brother. Can you think of a better way to introduce drama? The previous commenter is 100% correct; you're on the edge of your seat wondering...omg what's going on? Is this really happening? No way!!! The plot keeps you going and wondering where is this leading us; what are they going to to; how can you possible resolve a situation like this?!The actors were all very beautiful people in their own respect and were immensely talented. They made me feel so warm with emotion and you were able to connect with them on a much higher level. It's normally very difficult for me to connect with characters but these people really made you feel their emotions. I absolutely love the fact that this movie was released in the US. Like I said...it's about time.You're absolutely going to enjoy this film. I can guarantee that it's better than 75% of the movies Hollywood released in the past 3 years. Don't ask me how I came up with that figure; I'm just that confident of this film.

I just saw La Mujer De Mi Hermano and I may sound a bit biased since I am a huge Barbara Mori fan, but as always I thought she was great...but the real treat here was Christian Meier, he really seems to have evolved as an actor with every character he does. The ending is a powerful one and all three actors come in true sync with their respective characters. This is the second film Meier has done, based on a Jaime Bayly character and here he hits a bang! All three main characters are subtle yet very effective with their portrayals..simply amazing, chic and sexy all throughout.I had a slight problem with the fact that sex was a little bit overdone...It somehow felt that some of the sex talk scenes took away from the actual story and felt more like a filler than to have any substantial purpose. This was one of the main reasons I would rate this movie a 7.5 out of 10...It was a great movie that had a great pacing for the surprise finale and I was a bit baffled about one of the character's actions after he discovers something very significant to the story (which I will not give away.) Manolo Cardona was also great and the imperfections of his character came alive through the screen.I did not see this movie with subtitles so I am not sure what non-Spanish speaking folks read, but I do have to say that it is understandable why many American critics will slander this film. Is because they don't understand that Hispanic films don't deal with some of the American topics on film in a daily basis. Americans and Europeans make tons of films about rape, incest, murder and every possible sick thing imaginable, which is why it might seem like a joke that something like La Mujer De Mi Hermano will cause marvel to the Hispanic audience. Spanish-speaking films seldomly deal with these topics and do not have such a big history with sleek, smart & taboo films, so they should definitely take that into consideration when rating the film.Overall, I felt as I needed more...More thought-provoking dialogue, but it did justice to the Jaime Bayly novels, which rather speak for themselves rather than providing revolutionary sayings.