ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

GazerRise Fantastic!

Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Celia A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

slightlymad22 Continuing my plan to watch every Johnny Depp movie in order, I come to his first, and to date, only directorial effort The Brave (1997)An unemployed alcoholic Native American Indian (Depp) lives on a trailer park with his wife and two children. Convinced that he has nothing to offer this world, he agrees to be tortured to death in a snuff movie in return for $50,000. He is given one week before he must make the movie. Some of Depp's work is too sad or strange to watch often, but every movie in his unique filmography (at least at this point) deserves to be seen at least once. I don't think this is an easy watch, the first line of dialogue is not spoken until ten minutes into the film. It's a slow mover, and truthfully it could have lost about 30 minutes and lost none of the impact. Depp is really good here. No surprise as he was always great. Thankfully Brando's screen time is limited and Luis Guzmàn pops up too.I can see why some people will not like it, and complain nothing happens. You will probably not enjoy it. But it will certainly stay with you!! Depp was so upset at negative reviews by American critics attending an otherwise successful screening at the Cannes Film Festival. He refused to release the film in the United States.

MG Soikkeli Everything in "The Brave" is somehow false. Slow storytelling and strained dramatisation with zero motivation for audience to care for characters is an awful combination. It's brave message about the status of native American minority is lost with a stupid plot of sacrificing oneself in a snuff film.If you watch only the first half an hour of "The Brave", you may be satisfied to see something thematic in hollowness of characters and in the situations they are introduced to audience. Even the short discussion with Marlon Brando is almost tolerable if you keep thinking this is just meta-criticism against conventions of film realism.Only if you keep on watching... and you see the director (Johnny Depp) concentrating to his own character (Raphael) as a victim AND as a hero, you begin to see that there's another level of ethnic exploitation in these kind of indie films.In a proper drama the characters are used to enhance each others qualities. With main actor also directing all attention is focused to his character, but mr Depp is not able to express what's happening inside his character during the oppressive and violent situations.A stout, withdrawn character of an Indian with criminal background is a good choice for a director-actor who is used to do simple caricatures in Burton-fantasies - and even this is too much for mr Depp. Admittedly he is much more comfortable presenting ethnic antihero in "The Lone Ranger" than recycling an ethnic hero making ethnic love in ethnic sunset with an ethnic beauty (Elpidia Carrillo). YAWN! "The Brave" is so far the only long feature film Johnny Depp has directed and I truly hope it will also be the last one.

Murtaza Ali The Brave (1997), starring Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando, serves to be an absorbing work of cinema for the intelligent audience. A modern take on Dr Faustus, The Brave presents the heart-wrenching tale of a poverty-stricken American Indian family of four (father, mother, and two children) living in a small trailer next to a garbage dump. The father, who is only recently released from the jail, is offered the chance to star as a victim in a snuff film--a motion picture genre that depicts the actual murder of a person or people without the aid of special effects. He quickly realizes that he is worthless to his family alive. On the contrary, if he accepts the offer then his family will be paid a sum of US$50,000. After accepting the advance, he is granted a week's time to be with his family before fulfilling the terms of the agreement. Johnny Depp not only directs the film but also co-writes the screenplay in collaboration with his brother. The movie features some of the most haunting scenes ever filmed in cinema, which allow the viewers to reflect on their own lives. And the real beauty of the movie is that the violence is only implicit (those on the look out out for excesses of sex and violence might be disappointed). The Brave highlights in the most poignant manner the perpetual plight of the American natives residing in the US, something that Marlon Brando vociferously raised his voice against at several junctures in his career (he even refused to accept the Best Actor Oscar for his role in The Godfather). The movie features just one scene between Brando and Depp, but that scene is magical in so many ways. First, Brando's speech on life, death and sacrifice is mesmerizing to say the least. Second, Depp's facial expressions remind the viewer of the Brando of old. Third, it's one of Brando's final few screen presences... every second of his screen-time is worth cherishing. Fourth, the fact that the two characters are eternally connected despite having very little in common. The movie's improvisation on Dr. Faustus is worth appreciating: here the protagonist is willing to give away his life (as oppose to his soul) for a gain that's purely pecuniary in nature (as oppose to knowledge). It pretty much sums up the modern society's preference for money over knowledge. Another facet that makes the movie important and appealing is that despite being a Hollywood product, it has a strong indie feel associated with it. The credit for which should go to the Depp brothers. The arresting performances from Brando and Depp lift the movie above mediocrity despite its weak direction and average performances from the support cast. So, if you are looking for something different and thought-provoking to break your daily routine of watching banal, mindless Hollywood-like films then The Brave will surely succeed in titillating your senses.For more, please visit:http://www.apotpourriofvestiges.com/

faderdude This is by far one of the worst movies ever made! It was so bad it was the first movie at one of the biggest film festivals where everyone walked out on it. It was so bad it was never released in the USA! this is a turd and that is putting it nicely. Don't waist your time or money. If you like this you must not be watching this movie. I am a big Johnny Depp fan and have liked most of his work but this one would have been better off never being made. This movie was his baby from start to finish, I guess an abortion in this case would have been a good idea. PS a little know true fact about the music. The scene of the room where Johnny is to be killed the music contains sounds of an actually pig having its throat cut. The pig squeals with the sound of true death. it is disturbing. How do I know this... I worked on the session with Iggy Pop and saw the video where it came from.