QUICK AND DIRTY: LIVE FROM TIFF ROMANIA

Aged 13, but with the scrawny body and looks of a 10-year-old, Brian (Jarne Heylen) lives in a chaotic trailer encampment with his happy-go-lucky and impetuous father Maurice (Jarne Heylen) somewhere in the Netherlands. The man looks rough, with a thick beard and tattooed body, however he occasionally demonstrates affection and care. The problem is that dad’s just too busy doing nothing, thereby leaving his younger son to look after his elder Julien (Joël in ‘t Veld). Money is rare occurrence and a significant issue, in this deeply impoverished environment one hardly associates with one of the most developed nations of Europe.

Julien is a few years older than Brian, his body the size of an adult. He screams and wails like a six-month-old baby, his digits, his limbs and his neck vaguely contorted. He probably has cerebral palsy or very advanced autism (the precise condition is never revealed). Julien normally lives in a specialised institution. At first it’s unclear why Maurice removed him from a life of relative comfort and safety, with the right medication and doctors to hand, and placed him in an environment not too different from a war zone for the summer. It’s only in one of the final scenes that Brian realises the real reason behind his father’s apparent altruism: a large financial incentive. But even that money isn’t enough to pay off his debts, and eviction remains a looming possibility. Brian asks the obvious question: where could they move? It’s unclear how much lower one could possibly go in a developed society with a robust welfare state. Your guess is as good as mine.

Based on the award-winning, eponymous novel by Jaap Robben, Summer Brother is a very honest endeavour. The images possess the brutal and yet touching intimacy of American photographer Nan Goldin, and the acting is very naturalistic. The authenticity is such that it may cause discomfort, particularly when a terrified Julien who has not been given the right meds screams uncontrollably. Both he and the patients at the mental health organisation are played by real disabled people. In one of the film’s strongest scenes, Brian rubs belly with his “girlfriend” Selma (Isabelle Kafando), a Black woman with mild learning difficulties, twice his age and about seven times his weight. Sexual frankness involving disabled characters is rare in cinema (notable exceptions include Emma Dante’s Misericordia, which won the Best Picture Award at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival last November, Adina Pintilie’s 2018 Golden Bear winner Touch Me Not and Jo Sol’s Living and Other Fictions, from 2017).

The focus of Summer Brother, however, isn’t on sexuality, but instead – as the movie title suggests – on fraternal affection. The interactions and vivid and warm, much like the colourful and radiant cinematography. Heylen conveys a sense of strength and determination, which is anathema to the toxic masculinity that often prevails in an all-male house household. In ‘t Veld delivers a devastatingly convincing performance. While disabled, the young actor is capable of communication, and has even directed a short film. The disabled actors are visibly at ease, and In ‘t Veld develops a genuine bond the young and talented Heylen. The younger sibling helps the older one to smash bottles onto the ground, triggering ecstatic roaring, and remanding viewers that humanity must prevail even where communications skills are extremely primitive.

Maurice sublets one of the trailers to quiet and introspective Emiel (Valentijn Dhaenens), who is very fond of Brian and Julien. This timid attempt at intimacy sets off some alarm bells: Maurice suspects that the new resident may have some perverse sexual inclinations, or perhaps he’s just jealous that he could become a proxy father figure. Whatever the reason, dad’s preference is that his family remains self-contained. He makes an exception for two friendly Rottweilers. The menacing-looking creatures are in fact sweet and kind, and perhaps the small family’s most reliable source of protection.

Joren Molter’s debut feature is not a movie without flaws. The storytelling is a little thin. At times, it is difficult to follow the developments, and the narrative arc just fails to fully engage, the strength of the film instead resting on the powerful little moments. Still, a movie bursting with sweltering sunshine, energy and love. The potent images of genuine fraternal tenderness are guaranteed to warm your heart.

Summer Brother is in Competition at the 23rd edition of Tiff Romania. The director was present at the event, and delighted to see the a full house, and also to announce that he had just been cleared from cancer. This must have been a sobering experience for the 30-year-old director.