In the documentary Brother's Keeper directed by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky the filmmakers present the story of Delbert Ward and his brothers in rural upstate New York. The film takes place after one of the Ward brothers, William, dies at home. Delbert is arrested for the murder and goes on trial. The film is supposed to be an unbiased factual presentation of the events as they unfold but is that really possible for the filmmakers to do. They spent a year with these men and this town and gained their trust and confidence. They must have had a feeling and point of view about the Ward's and Munnsville and I would imagine that is why the film is the way it is. The movie makes you feel sorry for these men. It's as sad and twisted and dramatic as any tale of fiction could be. The structure of the documentary builds tension towards the trial and we await the verdict not knowing what to expect. Delbert Ward and his brothers are some of the most emphatetic characters I have seen. Their simplicity is so unusual and un-relatable to most of us that it makes them compelling. There is a scene where a man comes over to the Ward's farm to slaughter a pig. It is extremely graphic and disturbing. The man approaches the animal with a gun and shoots it right in the head. It stammers around bleeding while the man than comes at it with a knife and with no remorse cuts it throat. The shot never cuts and we see the pig stumble while blood pours from it. He then cuts open and guts the pig. It is quite possibly the most graphic and hardest scene to watch in any film I have seen. It certainly gets attention and its definitely there for a reason. Maybe it is to show the brutality of murder. The man was an expressionless cold figure who killed the pig. He contrasts Delbert who always has a half smile and finds joy in watching chickens run around a bus. Perhaps this was the filmmaker's way of showing that Delbert is not the type of person who could murder. It shows that the brothers even had to have someone come over to kill a pig for them because they couldn't do it themselves. It's a documentary but it is still trying to make the audience feel a certain way. Could the directors have made the Ward's look like an evil creepy group of men capable of terrible things? Probably. If Delbert was convicted of murdering his brother would the film have been made the same way? Maybe, maybe not. Can a film really ever be completely truthful and objective when there is a crew interacting with the subjects and a director to decide what we see or hear?
Review of Brother's Keeper
