I was slightly surprised to see this rather mediocre German social-drama having reached the US video stores. Less surprising was that Moritz Bleibtreu was promoted as "star of 'Munich'" (which is true – he did have a 30 second appearance) and some critics witty line, "Freud filtered through Fassbinder". Ironically, the line is true: Fassbinder wasn't a particularly good or interesting director and Sigmund Freud's theories are rather outdated.The story revolves around the Tschirner clan, what, consisting of neurotic transsexuals, sex-addicts and paedophiles, all hidden behind the facade of an average middle-class German family.The dysfunctions within the family seem at all times beyond hope or redemption and none of the characters are remotely sympathetic, likable, even completely comprehensive (unless perhaps you're from a similar background, in which case you might not even want to watch this film in the first place). "Agnes and his brothers" simply isn't a pretty film nor is it a film that will leave you feeling better if you happen to watch it when you feel down. Most importantly: it doesn't tell us anything new.What can be said about the acting? Well, the main focal points of the film being Martin Weiss as Agnes and Moritz Bleibreu as his sex-addict brother, neither performance comes across as completely convincing. Especially Bleibtreu, at the time hailed as the new hope of German cinema, seems stuck with a limited repertoire. Weiss on the other hand proves that he can convincingly wear a frock and woman's make-up – that doesn't make an actor but explains why this has remained his last appearance on the big screen (with the exception of the children's movie "Nick Knatterton").Herbert Knaup, playing the oldest brother Werner and member of the Green Party, still has the best part in the movie – although the scene where he, in a grand-gesture, defecates on a piece of paper and ceremoniously carries his "product" away, seems to say more about this type of movie making than about his own schizophrenic behaviour.As said, if you're looking for a film to drag you down or tell you time and again about the rotten times we leave and if you're looking for the most sanctimonious endings in recent European cinema, this may be for you.

hmm... so surely someone who has fully trangendered wouldn't still be sporting a 'five o'clock shadow' under their thin layer of foundation... and of course it is also the transgendered character in the film who must die at the end... (you go girl... just don't live past the last frame)... tiresome... but perhaps this equates more to a comment or a quip than a film review... it could have had so much more power and bite especially in fassbinders (possibly the original source material for this film?) hands... a handsome cast of good actors in what felt like surface flash/titillation... and just enough 'get your freak on' quirks and a pastel/pop colour schematic tacked onto a copycat almodovar wanna be sensibility... ughh!

So many films are just "over the top" that it's refreshing to see one that has such a real "feel" to it.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". (His character was not developed, but the three brothers' relationship to him made him a central figure.) That there is something dysfunctional within the film could be inferred from the title, but that does not imply anything interesting nor worthwhile in the film. Happily, it is interesting and fascinating.I don't know if all dysfunctional families are interesting, but this one certainly is. Possibly, it is because the characters are so well developed that we can empathize with them. All in all - quite enjoyable.

...but quality. This movie is short in every meaning. The story is not a story but the attempt to shock in times where even kids cannot be shocked by almost nothing anymore. What we see is a collection of different scenes some of them pretty good some awfully bad.We follow three brothers (a politician, a sex maniac who feels inadequate and a sex changed) looking for happiness in their own tragedy of life and especially the tragedy in their interpersonal relationships. Reason for their being what they are is their dominating father who became - oh wonder - gay after he might have abused his sons in the past...So far so good but beside the fact that the story is partly stolen, the writer and director did not decided if he wanted to make a comedy or a drama. What he definitely wanted to do is art, and that is by far not enough to make a good movie. Some critics called it a comic strip, some a satire and others called it a contemporary image of the German Republic. And there are the ones like me who just call it a big waste of time and money.If you don't like Lynch, Fassbinder and Aldomovar just sent them a copy of the film so they can see how they have been imitated in a small minded way. I promise that they will suffer a lot. At the end of the movie an ex porno-model and the still-sex-maniac agreed to drive from Germany into the Iraq (by car) and help the people over there... I am pretty sure that the movie meant exactly this, no ironic to be found in this scene.