The Brothers Bloom

The Long Con

The summer season is usually reserved for Hollywood’s tent-pole offerings – Sequels, Threequels and Prequels. Movies about cars, movies about toys; movies about cars transforming into toys. And yet, sprinkled amongst this surfeit of gluttonous mass consumption are the rare gems that dare challenge the audience’s imagination. I’m talking about the indie (500) Days of Summer, the French Séraphine, the Sci-fi mocumentary District 9 and delightfully quirky The Brothers Bloom.

I finally caught a screening of The Brothers Bloom when it played this week at Griffith (Quick shout-out to my friends at Freewater – Thanks guys, for bringing this movie to Duke!)

We’re first introduced to the Blooms as children. In an opening scene that serves to both introduce the two protagonists as well as establish the visual tone of the movie, we meet Bloom, the Younger  who torn between his heart and his loyalty to his brother, is often the reticent star of the Bloom, the Older’s intricate cons.

As the Blooms grow older, their cons become increasingly sophisticated. Through a mix of sheer charisma and elaborately plotted schemes they earn their keep by swindling their way through the fortunes of the rich and unsuspecting.

Oscar winner, Adrien Brody (The Pianist) plays the younger of the two Bloom brothers. All prominent nose and deep haunted eyes, he is perfectly cast to play a man struggling with the consequences of his actions. Mark Ruffalo plays the older Bloom brother and Machiavellian schemer. He plays his character broad and is sadly outclassed by his peers. 

The Blooms might have met their greatest challenge when they set out to con the seemingly naïve Penelope, a quirky shut in heiress played by Rachel Weisz (of The Constant Gardener fame). The rest of the movie proceeds as a whimsical carrousel ride – where the audience is never quite sure who’s conning whom.

Joining the fray is Rinko Kikuchi’s Bang Bang. You might remember her as the mute Japanese girl in Babel, and here too she utters few words (I believe I counted three). She plays Bang Bang as a picaresque mime. And while she's mainly there for comic relief, she easily steals many of the scenes she's in. Adding to the mix is Robbie Coltrane's (Hey, its Hagrid from Harry Potter!) Frenchman-pardon-Belgian.

Earlier this semester we discussed whether narration ought to be the centerpiece of a movie – its essence. While the movie certainly has a pretty solid plot line and adheres for the most part to Bordwell's rules of classic cinema – it refuses to be encumbered by them. In fact the movie really shines when it gives in to its whimsical side.

One sequence that really stands out is a montage where Penelope, the pin-hole camera enthusiast proceeds to demonstrate her ‘collection’ of hobbies to Brody’s Bloom – in quick jump shots she’s shown riding a unicycle, break-dancing and playing the accordion.

All most as much action takes place in the background as does in the foreground. The movie is full of these blink-and-you-miss-it moments. Like when Penelope silently checks out Bloom through the rear view mirror of the car or when she has her first umm... train ride.

The movie is shot in super saturated colors, complementing its flighty theme. For example, when The Belgian first makes his entrance on the boat – he’s shrouded in darkness, Penelope's visage is half-lit by eerie red light. Yet as in the short-lived series, Pushing Daisies, our protaganists are dressed in solemn funeral black, as if grounding them in this whimsical ride, and contrasting them sharply against the buoyant color of the Montenegro coast, or the muted grays of Prague. In fact, Rian Johnson directs this movie more Wes Anderson-esque than his previous outing, the gloomy film-noirish teenage mood piece, Brick.

One of the final lines of the movie goes, A perfect Con is one in which everybody gets what they want.
And in a way, isn't that what a good movie is, really? A grand con designed to please the audience? Well, on that front this movie does not disappoint!

The Brothers Bloom is rated PG-13 and is directed by Rian Johnson. It stars Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel Weisz.