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HomeVideoDocumentaryBiographyBrother Born Again |
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|  | | | Customer Reviews: | | | Average Customer Review: ( 9 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 A genuine encounter Mar 15, 2010
By Cobber
I loved the way this video was put together. Having lived on the farm at an earlier time, I was aware of the potential for tension between the family members. Brother and sister did the right thing by meeting face to face. I saw a postive resolution with mutual love and respect. It wasn't an easy achievement but appeared genuine. We don't always understand everything the same but we can still love and appreciate each other. Plus the scenery was great. Overall a very satisfying story.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 I will help my brothers and sisters in Christ, because they are my brothers and sisters. - Joseph B Lightfoot Jan 17, 2011
By stoic
A Christian is obligated to help a "sister in Christ," but what about a biological sister? That is the question at the heart of the documentary Brother Born Again.
The other night, my infant daughter wouldn't sleep. So I stayed up with her and watched Brother Born Again. The film concerns Julia Pimsleur, a woman from New York City who attempts to reestablish contact with her brother, Marc. The two siblings lost contact after Marc became a born-again Christian and moved into a Christian community called The Farm in rural Alaska. Julia's attempts to reestablish her relationship with Marc are complicated by two facts. First, the Pimsleur family is Jewish. Second, Julia is openly bisexual.
One interesting aspect of the film is that it juxtaposes secular New York City with the ascetic Farm in Alaska. First, the viewer sees Julia discussing her life in New York; then Julia travels to see Marc in Alaska; finally, Marc visits his family in New York. The sharp contrast in these two settings intrigues the viewer.
Marc is an interesting character, but he remains a bit mysterious at the film's end. He explains why he thought that he needed more meaning in his life, but I never understood why fundamentalist Christianity was the path that he chose to follow. Perhaps I am asking too much of the film, however, as religious belief often defies conventional explanations.
A commendable aspect of the film is that while Julia explains her feelings about her brother and the hurt that his absence from her life causes, the film does a good job of not judging either person. This is a difficult task, given the charged topics that the film explores. I liked the fact that the filmmakers respected their viewers enough to allow them to draw their own conclusions. Julia strikes the viewer as someone who earnestly wants a better relationship with her brother and the viewer cheers for her to succeed.
Brother Born Again offers few easy answers as to how we can bridge the gap between religious and secular Americans, but it offers much food for thought and it profiles some likeable people.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Lesson in bridging the gulf between two siblings' worlds Jan 26, 2010
By Rodney Wilson
What happens when one sibling is secular+Jewish+agnostic+bisexual+NYC filmmaker and the other is born-again+Christian+straight+farmer in a remote Christian commune in Alaska? That's what this documentary is about -- how to make bridges between loved ones who have diametrically opposed worldviews. The good news is that there *is* common ground from which to sustain relationship and that each sibling is able to offer the other a gentle lesson in how the other half lives.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Issues of the heart Sep 18, 2010
By Aching Heart
This touched me quite deeply. It spoke to my own struggles with my family accepting my faith and me learning to live with their lack thereof graciously. I loved it! A really good movie.
3 of 4 found the following review helpful:
A sister's journey to rediscover her brother Jan 05, 2009
By P. Mann
Director Julia Pimsleur and her brother Marc were raised in a Jewish family. However, when Marc became a born-again Christian, a rift developed, in large part because he moved to an Alaskan farm where his faith was an integral part of life. (At one point, his sister compares the farm to a kibbutz.) Add to this the fact that Julia labels herself as bisexual, and the rift grows.
The film is not so much an attempt to investigate faith (or any faith in particular) as it is the director's attempt to reconcile with her brother. In other words, the primary emphasis is familial, not theological. And yet despite the intimacy of the subject matter, the film is surprisingly calm. Both Julia and Marc treat each other with respect, though not necessarily for their views. That restraint is at times rather frustrating. The civility almost makes it seem as if the two are merely going through the motions. I would have liked to see more emotion.
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