Search - La Mujer de Mi Hermano on DVD

The Bold and Beautiful

MICHAEL ACUNA | Southern California United States | 05/13/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Barely a step above a Soap Opera, "La Mujer de Mi Hermano" lacks the weight and sincerity to support its heavy duty themes of child molestation and latent homosexuality. Bewilderingly, these major themes are raised by the characters and just as bewilderingly dropped: neither explained nor resolved.

Though the film itself is quite beautifully photographed, it nonetheless is oftentimes vapid and silly and lacking in intelligent, sincere and psychologically cogent motivation.

Zoe' (a gorgeous Barbara Mori) and Ignacio (a sturdy and icy Christian Meier) are married and unhappy: Ignacio is physically beautiful but cold and Zoe' is both physically beautiful, psychologically aware and in possession of a warm, inviting personality....a situation fraught with difficulties

Ignacio's brother Gonzalo (Manolo Cardona looking like nothing if not a throwback to the 70's with his anglo-afro and full beard), though warm and puppy-like on the outside is even more of a viper than his brother: his relationships with women border on the cruel and certainly lack any kind of commitment on Gonzalo's part.

Combine Ignacio, Gonzalo and Zoe' together and you have one hell of a spicy stew. Unfortunately Director Ricardo de Montreuil, is not the cook to stir this pot in the right direction. His mise en scene is icy-cold, filled with hard surfaces like the concrete and glass of Ignacio and Zoe's house: could anything approximating Love exist in these surroundings?

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A Stylish, Visually Stunning, Memorable Film from Latin Amer

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 10/30/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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, October 07

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The usual ...

Sharad Yadav | 11/09/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The story is a run of the mill extra-marital affair. Stunningly beautiful Zoe (Barbara Mori) is married to a wealthy businessman and they suffer from a bored marriage. The vulnerable Zoe falls for her husband's younger (playboyish) brother who is an abstract painter/artist and they enter into a short-lived promiscuous relationship. However, very soon Zoe gets pregnant and her promiscuous lover suddenly loses interest and calls for an abortion. Zoe's husband (who has inclinations towards being gay) redeems the ailing relationship by accepting the yet unborn kid as his own.



Nothing special about the movie, except for the stunning presence of Barbara Mori. If you remove her from the movie, then the rating drops to a single star.

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Preposterous

Kardius | USA | 12/05/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"The two stars of this glossy-looking movie, based on a novel by bestselling Peruvian author Jaime Bayly, are two popular Latin American soap opera stars. Suffice to say that the characters they have played in their most popular soaps are more credible, entertaining and nuanced than the ones they play in this movie about the affair between a sexually unsatisfied woman and her artsy brother in law. The three wealthy lead characters are good-looking, but unsympathetic, so you don't care what happens to them. And the final resolution is a machista fantasy. I suggest you skip this and get "Rubi", Barbara Mori's most famous soap opera instead. It's more fun, you get to see more of her, and you'll get more emotionally involved that watching this movie."