The Brave [1997] [Dutch Import]

I read the reviews on this film the other day and was so intrigued about the film that I ordered it. I am a big Johnny Depp fan and was excited about seeing this movie as it was his first attempt at directing. I watched it as soon as it was delivered and I couldn't move the whole way through. The first thing that struck me was there is no dialogue at all for the first ten minutes, and again the last ten are speechless. Johnny Depp plays Raphael, a Native American. He has two children and a wife to support, and isn't doing a very good job. He decides that they would be better off without him and so takes a job from Marlon Brando.
This is where I have my only criticism. In the movie it isn't made perfectly clear what the job entails, only that he will lose his life. But I think I can say, without jeapordising the plot, that the job is to star in a snuff movie. It actually says that on the back of the DVD case and I found that it makes the film all the more poingnant to know this.
Raphael is given one week to live before he has to go back and make the film. The movie follows his character as the week goes on, and it gets harder to watch as you feel his week coming to an end.
I spent the last ten minutes in absolute silence, except for my sobs and heart wrenching sadness. When it ended, I vowed not to watch it again for a while. But as the day wore on, I couldn't get it out of my head. So much so that I actually broke down in tears again just thinking about it! I watched it again that evening and cried even more as I saw things I had missed first time round.
This film is an amazing directorial debut for Depp and I would definately want to see anything he may direct in the future. He has shown that not only is he a brilliant actor, he has talent behind the camera aswell. I think this film proves that he is not just a pretty face!
This definately isn't for the lighthearted, but should you want to see something that will stay with you, then see this!!!

I watched this last night and expected to see a film about a native American Indian, Raphael, meet a snuff movie Director(Marlon Brando) take the offer to star in his film, take a stack of cash, run off to spend his guts out on trivial consumer durables with a promise to return in 1 week for his final performance. Instead it portrayed a man who, knowing he had made some bad choices in his life decides to spend the money on his wife and children in the hope of making them happy and to love him and remember him as a man who eventually did the right thing - put food on the table and provide for them. In the process he makes the whole of Morgantown happy and is loved by all. The film has sinister overtones and makes you think about this man's life and his desperation to agree to such a sad end to it; faced with no other options or hope. I was gripped to the film because it was thought provoking. Ok, I agree, the beginning had no dialogue for a while but this was to set the mood, not to thrill a viewer who has no capacity for the scene and the seriousness of this man's life and his contemplations.

The ending had me in an emotional turmoil and thoughts of the kind of torture he would experince before his life was indeed 'snuffed out', from the moment he left the trailer, making coffee for Rita for the last time, saying goodbye to his kids, as he sat on the bus,entered the building and looked up the stairs like he was walking up to heaven just blew me away. Great direction.

If you like a film with a real human side to it, emotion, good acting and not the typical Hollywood 'Boy meets Girl' or 'all gun's blazing'(and swearing) film, then I thoroughly recommend this film, it's the adepptable Johnny Depp at his art house best!! A great Directional debut, I only hope he does more movie directing. This film has been reviewed by other sites and I found them to be harsh and rude, not just about the film content but also about Johnny Depp himself which I felt were unjustified and immature, this is a film for a mature mind that accepts movies that are far from the norm and the message they send.

If you are going to watch Johnny Depp films, you need to appreciate that this man uses his face to tell his story- sometimes there is no need for dialogue.

I found this a beautiful and sad film. For me, it was about the racism that North American Indians still face in their own country and how a young man (Raphael) has lived a sterotypical life of trying to make ends meet, turning to booze and crime. As a consequence, he feels utterly worthless, figuring that selling his life so that his family can escape the life of poverty will be the best option.

The character displays such dignity, such warmth and such pain as we see (mainly though his facial expression) how he makes yet another rash decision, believing there is no other option. He then learns from his wife what he needs to do- 'If you want to provide for your family, you have to love them'- so he rekindles his relationship with his wife and children for his last 7 days.

Marlon Brando is superb in his creepy role (did he agree to be in this after Don Juan?)and so is the nasty, nasty man who makes sure R does not change his mind. The scenes with the priest were superb too.

If you want to see JD tortured then you will be dissapointed (and have missed the whole atmosphere of the film). If you want to see a beautiful and sensitive actor and director, then this is one for you.

When you see an actor, you never know how much is him and how much is good direction- when you see an actor who has directed himself, you know it has come from the heart. This film is not just about Raphael but is a strong statement about discrimination and the consequences- perhaps that is why it was condemned by the critics, maybe it made some Americans too uncomfortable?.