Product Description

On the morning of June 6, 1990, the village of Munnsville (pop. 499) was just another forgotten corner of rural America. But in the days and months that followed, this New York farming community would become the center of one of the most celebrated and bi

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43220 in DVD
• Brand: New Video
• Released on: 2003-07-29
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Formats: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 104 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
One of the best films of 1992, this acclaimed documentary focuses on the alleged murder in June 1990 of 64-year-old Bill Ward by his brother Delbert, 59, a simple dairy farmer whose defense became a rallying cause for the citizens of Munnsville, a tiny farming community in central New York. Known by all of Munnsville as harmless hermits, the Ward brothers (also including Lyman and Roscoe) live an 18th-century lifestyle in their tiny, grimy shack, sleeping in the same bed through cold winters and tending daily to their hayfields and livestock. Semiliterate and stunted by minimal exposure to the outside world, the Wards are disheveled children in the bodies of aging men; and when Delbert is charged with suffocating his ailing brother Bill, he's a prime target for legal manipulation and a media circus that's immediately drawn to his case. Filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky spent nearly a year with the Wards and the Munnsville citizens who rallied to Delbert's defense, and their efforts prove that reality is often more compelling than even the richest fictional drama. As a slice-of-life study of eccentricity, country-folk stereotypes, small-town wisdom, and the power of the media, Brother's Keeper is funny, fascinating, and full of compassionate humanity. It's also a riveting courtroom mystery with characters that no casting director could improve upon, tracking the course of justice while leaving the viewer to mull over the truth behind Delbert Ward's alleged crime. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

The three dirtiest people you'll ever fall in love with...
It's impossible to praise "Brother's Keeper" too much. Not only a superb documentary, it's one of the best movies of any genre I've seen. Even after a half-dozen viewings, it holds up.

"Brother's Keeper" is one of those rare films in which everything perfectly falls into place. It's not just the documentation of an odd murder trial in a forgotten part of the US, but a multi-leveled story about -- well, just about everything.

One of those many things is a cautionary tale of how the legal system can and will do _anything_ to convict _somebody_, whether or not a crime has been committed. It's a perfect real-life example of why The Police and the Prosecutors Cannot Be Trusted.

For me, the best thing about "Brother's Keeper" is the way a town of what "we" would consider moronic hicks displays a level of intelligence, common sense, and compassion that "educated" folk rarely, if ever, approach.

"Brother's Keeper" also has one of the most heart-rending scenes you'll ever see. Keep the Kleenex handy.

The DVD is an improvement over the LaserDisk. It's slightly sharper (though not much -- the source material is 16mm film) and the colors are brighter and less muddy. Contrary to some listings, this is neither a widescreen film, nor is the sound stereo.

I've seen "Brother's Keeper" rated variously as G or R (!!!), but it has no official MPAA rating. Parents concerned about what their children view should note that a live pig is butchered in graphic detail. There are also several scenes covering the police's invention of a mind-bogglingly preposterous "motive" for Delbert murdering William. For those who haven't seen the film, I won't reveal it, but it's something most parents would prefer not to discuss with pre-teens.

Absolutely, unreservedly recommended.

Note: In browsing the other reviews, I noted that some viewers tend to see what they want to see. Although it's not clear whether the Ward brothers are illiterate (even if there was no school to attend, it's hard to believe their parents didn't teach them to read and write), it is nevertheless true that they are NOT mentally defective, NOT the product of inbreeding, NOT "hicks", and NOT "stupid". (Delbert's low IQ is the result of a lack of education, not a lack of "intelligence".) Nor are they poor, or "outcasts" (though, as one member of the community comments, their body odor renders them unsuitable companions in a restaurant). If the Ward brothers have a problem, it's that they are naive in the ways of the world, which is hardly a reason for condemnation.

A dark, disturbing, yet riveting documentary
This one of the most profoundly disturbing movies I have ever seen. The documentary details the events surrounding the trial of Delbert Ward for the alleged murder of his brother Bill, two of four elderly brothers living as near-hermits in a tiny shack near the rural township of Munnsville, New York. After an autopsy revealed that Bill might not have died under natural circumstances, Delbert was questioned and signed a confession, though he might not have been mentally competent to do so.

Initially, the viewer responds to the sheer oddness of the Ward brothers, their way of life, their extraordinary social isolation, and the way of life they have carved for themselves, which was utterly unlike that of the rest of American society. At times, one feels one is taking a vacation trip along the edge of the abyss. Gradually, however, the film takes on far more nuanced and subtle aspects in relating their story to the town as a whole, and their growing support of one of their residents being judged and accused by outsiders.

This is not a movie that clears up any mysteries or comes to any firm conclusions. Filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky start off with a perplexing possible crime and end in a confusing fog. One doesn't know quite what to think (though a possible mercy killing of Bill, who was ill at the time of his death, seems a possibility). But the depth and power of the film is undeniable, and it unquestionably belongs on a short list of the best documentary films of recent decades.

Brothers Keeper
This is one of the most wonderful films I have ever seen. Why it was not given the academy award for best documentary the year of it's release I'll never know. This film will captivate you from begining to end. This is a sad yet masterfully told story of a simple people who by the death of a brother are propelled into the not so simple world of the judicial system. It is also a feel good story of a town who will do most anything to back their own. Im sure after seeing this Documentary you will be as moved as I was.