Agnes and His Brothers (2004)

42% of critics liked it
(19 reviews)
44% of users liked it
(3,938 ratings)

The Tschirn brothers have their share of problems. Middle brother Hans-Jörg (Moritz Bleibtreu of Run Lola Run) is a librarian who neglects his duties in order to ogle every attractive woman that enters his workplace. His clumsy efforts to make conversation with them go nowhere. He takes his… More The Tschirn brothers have their share of problems. Middle brother Hans-Jörg (Moritz Bleibtreu of Run Lola Run) is a librarian who neglects his duties in order to ogle every attractive woman that enters his workplace. His clumsy efforts to make conversation with them go nowhere. He takes his fetishistic peeping a step further, following women into the ladies room so he can sit in the next stall and pleasure himself while he spies on them. Older brother Werner (Herbert Knaup), a successful Green Party politico, would seem to be a bit more together, but his home life is in shambles. His wife, Signe (Katja Riemann of Rosenstrasse), no longer responds to his marital advances, and seems to have an unhealthily intimate relationship with their rebellious teenage son, Ralf (Tom Schilling), who spends much of his time trying to videotape his father's every embarrassment. Younger brother Martin has had a sex change and become Agnes (Martin Weiss). Agnes is a good-natured person, but profoundly unhappy, perhaps stemming from his unfulfilled relationship with an American fashion designer (played by Monster's Ball producer Lee Daniels in a cameo). But Hans-Jörg blames all of their problems on their father, Günther (Vadim Glowna), and can't even bring himself to visit the old man. Agnes and His Brothers, written and directed by Oskar Roehler, was selected by the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center for inclusion in the 2005 edition of New Directors/New Films. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 56 min.
Directed By: Oskar Roehler
Written By: Oskar Roehler
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Jun 9, 2006 Limited
On DVD: Dec 19, 2006
Studio: First Run

Critic Reviews

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
It's a slick, ambitious movie that doesn't always nail all the many moods and themes it's after. But the actors give it force and depth.
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
The film's outrageousness would be more palatable if leavened with more wit, or if the characterizations possessed more nuances.
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
Writer-director Oskar Roehler spends all his energy on cataloging ''outrageous' behavior, and none on giving the transgressions any meaning.
Jay Weissberg, Variety
In shuttling between drama and farce, more than a few balls get dropped.
Gene Seymour, Newsday
There's fierce energy and -- thanks to the performances -- affecting emotion in the movie that almost makes you forget that Rainer Werner Fassbinder told a similar story much better 28 years ago with In a Year with 13 Moons.
V.A. Musetto, New York Post
About halfway through, however, the story takes on more than it can handle, turning contrived and unbelievable in the process.
Eric Monder, Film Journal International
Has much to recommend
Jurgen Fauth, About.com
Neither Agnes nor his brothers ever feel real enough to truly shock.
Eric Lurio, Greenwich Village Gazette
some of the best acting to come out of Germany since before the Nazis took over.
Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide's Movie Guide
[The film] isn't especially engaging, despite a quietly charismatic performance by Weiss, a relative newcomer who holds his own against far more experienced actors.
Annlee Ellingson, Boxoffice Magazine
Where Roehler spends the most time, it seems, is with Werner, whose story evolves from satiric parody to compelling family drama -- there are few scenes more satisfying than when he takes a chainsaw to his son's marijuana crop.
Noel Murray, AV Club
It says something about Roehler's vision for Agnes And His Brothers that he didn't think much about the movie's centerpiece character, beyond the simplistic irony of having the family transsexual be the most normal.
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness
Fitfully engaging but narratively messy.
Harvey S. Karten, Compuserve
Effectively mixes humor with melodrama to deliver an absorbing look at 3 brothers with enormous emotional problems.
Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
Just as the characters are underthought, the storylines are incongruently pieced together.
Boyd van Hoeij, european-films.net
While the script has the occasional hiccough, the impeccable performances of the three actors actually make us care for these dysfunctional brothers.

Read all 16 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Dean M

Weird German drama film about the Tschirner clan, what, consisting of neurotic transsexuals, sex-addicts and paedophiles, all hidden behind the facade of an average middle-class German family. I was shocked to see the different scenes were okay and awfully bad. I liked the cuts and… More
Weird German drama film about the Tschirner clan, what, consisting of neurotic transsexuals, sex-addicts and paedophiles, all hidden behind the facade of an average middle-class German family. I was shocked to see the different scenes were okay and awfully bad. I liked the cuts and transitions which interweave the lives of the brothers. The blending of three very different lives and personalities complete a fascinating portrait of a family. In a way it might have been "3 brothers and their father". I enjoyed Katja Riemann as the cold and frustrated wife, her scenes with Herbert Knaup are some of the best in the whole movie.
Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]"Agnes and His Brothers" is a very, very thorough examination of sexual frustration. Werner(Herbert Knaup) is a politician who has probably not had sex with his wife, Signe(Katja Riemann), since the Berlin Wall came down. Adding to his problems is his… More
[font=Century Gothic]"Agnes and His Brothers" is a very, very thorough examination of sexual frustration. Werner(Herbert Knaup) is a politician who has probably not had sex with his wife, Signe(Katja Riemann), since the Berlin Wall came down. Adding to his problems is his elder son, Ralf(Tom Schilling), growing marijuana on the property. Werner's brother, Hans-Jorg(Moritz Bleibtreu), is a shallow creep who is transfixed by all the beautiful, tall, skinny, young and scantily clad women who frequent the library where he works.(Yes, it is okay to fantasize but voyeurism definitely crosses the line. And it's disturbing that both voyeuristic endeavors in the film concern bodily functions.) One of the movie's few bright spots is in not making Agnes(Martin Weiss), a post-op transsexual, any more pathetic than her brothers, Werner and Hans-Jorg, even though she is kicked out of her apartment early on by her boyfriend.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]"Agnes and His Brothers" is fairly awful for its first hour before gradually improving when it finally gets around to telling Agnes' story. But by that time, events have gotten out of hand and believability gets tossed out the window.[/font]