What was it you did to my brother again? I missed that.
So most of that VHS tape full of old home movies I found the other day was, as many of you might guess, full of various installments in the epic action blockbuster miniseries known as You Killed My Brother.
These movies, produced mostly in the 1980s under the primary direction of Mr. Boreas Van Nouhuys with a cast of relative unknowns, is important cinematic history for a number of reasons. For one thing, Van Nouhuys has come to be acknowledged by film scholars as the real pioneer of the popular action movie subgenre that focuses on 8-minute foot chases through the woods near Emile's house. Also, few people realize that it was actually the final chapter in this series that first included the phrase "Vidal! This one's for Gandhi!", long before Julia Roberts stole it and turned it into such a cliche in Pretty Woman.
Unfortunately, due to bandwidth restrictions I can't post for you here the entire series complete with foot chases, but I have taken the liberty of excerpting certain key scenes that I think offer just a taste of the emotional breadth - and depth - of the story. One of the strengths of storytelling at this level is the variety of potential interpretations of the meaning and subtext, but for those of you who haven't seen the entire production, let me just give a very brief plot summary to help you follow along.
Maybe it all started during that hunting trip in Maine, which took place during a standoff in the Thirty Year Cow War in 2046 A.D., after Lyme Disease had killed off most of the population of the planet. O-Wee (also known as John) mistakenly believed that A-Neal killed his brother Bor-Iss, not knowing it was really the Lyme Disease. That tragic mistake sparked several long fistfights and foot chases.
Later, Bor-Iss is no longer dead and finds John, now dead himself. This is upsetting to Bor-Iss, but even so it is he who is attacked by Neal-A, the evil twin brother of A-Neal, and accused of fratricide. At some point Neal-A then becomes good, and he along with John, who has been resurrected, and some blond guy I didn't know travel to the mountain top to gain the wisdom of Vee-Kram, an eastern mystic who wears a yellow blanket on his head. Following a long foot chase and fist fight, an epic battle takes place inside a drained above-ground swimming pool between Neal-A and Bor-Iss, during which Vee-Kram gives his mystical power to Neal-A, who then spares the evil Bor-Iss' life, thus turning him to good.
Then, Owee/John comes back from the dead, but is evil, and attacks Bor-Iss and A-Neal. This incident raises many more questions than it answers, but apparently the cast and crew got distracted making a spoof of a deodorant commercial and decided to leave some threads loose here.
The dramatic conclusion of the series is based on an actual historical event, the 1951 murder of Mahatma Gandhi by Genghis Khan. Years later, Vidal, Fjord and Bjorn Khan attack Gandhi's descendant Gandho Goodlight to extract vengeance for the death of an unnamed brother, even though it was in reality Gandho's evil twin brother Neal-A who committed the murder. It is left to the viewer to decide whether or not this means Gandho Goodlight is really A-Neal himself. Regardless, several long chases and fistfights and, I must say, some pretty good stunts, ensue before Goodlight finally slays the ringleader Vidal, turning himself to evil in the process.
Ok, I think that covers it, though we may be fortunate at some point to receive some input on the original interpretation of events from the director and performers themselves. And stay tuned after the movie for a special blog feature, "On the Set with Director Boreas Van Nouhuys"!
Oh, and by the way, having just watched these things several times in the course of editing this together, I feel a somewhat urgent need to point out to those who weren't around at the time that we did, in fact, know some girls in high school.
And now, "On the Set with Director Boreas Van Nouhuys"!
These movies, produced mostly in the 1980s under the primary direction of Mr. Boreas Van Nouhuys with a cast of relative unknowns, is important cinematic history for a number of reasons. For one thing, Van Nouhuys has come to be acknowledged by film scholars as the real pioneer of the popular action movie subgenre that focuses on 8-minute foot chases through the woods near Emile's house. Also, few people realize that it was actually the final chapter in this series that first included the phrase "Vidal! This one's for Gandhi!", long before Julia Roberts stole it and turned it into such a cliche in Pretty Woman.
Unfortunately, due to bandwidth restrictions I can't post for you here the entire series complete with foot chases, but I have taken the liberty of excerpting certain key scenes that I think offer just a taste of the emotional breadth - and depth - of the story. One of the strengths of storytelling at this level is the variety of potential interpretations of the meaning and subtext, but for those of you who haven't seen the entire production, let me just give a very brief plot summary to help you follow along.
Maybe it all started during that hunting trip in Maine, which took place during a standoff in the Thirty Year Cow War in 2046 A.D., after Lyme Disease had killed off most of the population of the planet. O-Wee (also known as John) mistakenly believed that A-Neal killed his brother Bor-Iss, not knowing it was really the Lyme Disease. That tragic mistake sparked several long fistfights and foot chases.
Later, Bor-Iss is no longer dead and finds John, now dead himself. This is upsetting to Bor-Iss, but even so it is he who is attacked by Neal-A, the evil twin brother of A-Neal, and accused of fratricide. At some point Neal-A then becomes good, and he along with John, who has been resurrected, and some blond guy I didn't know travel to the mountain top to gain the wisdom of Vee-Kram, an eastern mystic who wears a yellow blanket on his head. Following a long foot chase and fist fight, an epic battle takes place inside a drained above-ground swimming pool between Neal-A and Bor-Iss, during which Vee-Kram gives his mystical power to Neal-A, who then spares the evil Bor-Iss' life, thus turning him to good.
Then, Owee/John comes back from the dead, but is evil, and attacks Bor-Iss and A-Neal. This incident raises many more questions than it answers, but apparently the cast and crew got distracted making a spoof of a deodorant commercial and decided to leave some threads loose here.
The dramatic conclusion of the series is based on an actual historical event, the 1951 murder of Mahatma Gandhi by Genghis Khan. Years later, Vidal, Fjord and Bjorn Khan attack Gandhi's descendant Gandho Goodlight to extract vengeance for the death of an unnamed brother, even though it was in reality Gandho's evil twin brother Neal-A who committed the murder. It is left to the viewer to decide whether or not this means Gandho Goodlight is really A-Neal himself. Regardless, several long chases and fistfights and, I must say, some pretty good stunts, ensue before Goodlight finally slays the ringleader Vidal, turning himself to evil in the process.
Ok, I think that covers it, though we may be fortunate at some point to receive some input on the original interpretation of events from the director and performers themselves. And stay tuned after the movie for a special blog feature, "On the Set with Director Boreas Van Nouhuys"!
Oh, and by the way, having just watched these things several times in the course of editing this together, I feel a somewhat urgent need to point out to those who weren't around at the time that we did, in fact, know some girls in high school.
And now, "On the Set with Director Boreas Van Nouhuys"!
posted by Matt | 9:13 PM
3 Comments:
Bravo! Excellent summary and very nice editing.
That. Is. Total. Genius.
Oh, Vikram's career is SO over.
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