Film Review: “Brudermord” (Fratricide)

As part of the Multicultural Germany undergraduate seminar at UC Berkeley, students reviewed recent German films relating in various ways to topics of migration, multiculturalism, and contemporary German identity. Melissa Carlson reviewed Yilmaz Arslan’s 2005 film “Brudermord”: 

Fratricide is a drama with moments of extreme violence. The movie follows the story of two young Kurdish refugees who immigrated to Germany to find better lives and make money to send back to their families. However, the dream of a new life isn’t what the Kurdish boys experience as they work hard, and sometimes illegally, for meager pay. They run into trouble when one of the Kurdish boys’ older brother kills a Turkish gang member in self-defense to protect his younger brother. The family and fellow gang members of the deceased seek vengeance against the two Kurdish refugees, claiming that only killing the older Kurdish brother will end the violence and pay for the death of the Turk…[full review here]