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Brothers and Sisters (1980 film)

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Brothers and Sisters
Directed byRichard Woolley
Written byTammy Walker
Richard Woolley
Produced byKeith Griffiths
StarringCarolyn Pickles
Sam Dale
Robert East
CinematographyPascoe MacFarlaine
Edited byMick Audsley
Music byTrevor Jones
Distributed byBritish Film Institute
Release date
  • 1980 (1980)
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Brothers and Sisters is a 1980 British drama film directed by Richard Woolley and starring Carolyn Pickles, Sam Dale and Robert East. Inspired by the Yorkshire Ripper murders, the film tells the story of a prostitute's murder and its suspects.

Plot

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When Jennifer Collins, a part time prostitute, is found murdered, two upper-class brothers become suspects. Neither have alibis and although political rhetoric divides David Barratt, a self indulgent 'revolutionary' living in a communal house, from his brother, James, a right wing army major, both men are linked by their shared sexual hypocrisy. James, it seems, prefers secret liaisons with prostitutes to sleeping with his wife while David, who has been sneakily conducting an affair with Theresa, Jennifer's sister employed by James as a nanny, bleats that he has just been "trying to work out new codes of sexual behavior", when challenged by Tricia, his life-in lover.

Cast

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Production

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Filming

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The film was shot on location in West Yorkshire, England.

Release

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The film was entered into the 12th Moscow International Film Festival.[1]

Critical reception

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The film had a positive reception.

  • 'A continously interesting picture, formally adroit and persuasively acted' - The Observer
  • 'By a clever juggling of murder-thriller suspense and soap-opera naturalism. Woolley shrewdly anatomises Anglo-Saxon attitudes to sex and the sexes' - Financial Times
  • 'Brothers and Sisters has some marvellously evocative location photography.. it holds the attention and gives food for thought' - The Guardian
  • 'The film achieves an unexpected immediacy, with Carolyn Pickles giving an impressive performance' - Time Out

Home media

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The film was included in the BFI DVD release An Unflinching Eye, that features several of Woolley's films.

References

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  1. ^ "12th Moscow International Film Festival (1981)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
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