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Features: DVD, Photos
On the morning of June 6, 1990, the village of Munnsville (pop. 499) was just another forgotten corner of rural America. But in the days and months that followed, this New York farming community would become the center of one of the most celebrated and bizarre murder trials in U.S. history. Brother's Keeper tells the story of the Ward Boys, four eccentric brothers who shared the same dilapidated two-room shack for over 60 years. Living in isolation, without heat or running water, these elderly bachelors had virtually no contact with the outside world--until one was found dead in the bed he shared with his brother. By day's end, Delbert Ward confessed to suffocating his ailing brother as an act of mercy, but Munnsville believed Delbert had been framed. Was Delbert, an uneducated hermit with a low IQ, an innocent victim of police abuse? Was it a mercy killing--or was there another motive? Ten years after mesmerizing audiences and critics everywhere, Brother's Keeper--one of the most successful nonfiction films of all time--is back to grip the nation with this 10th Anniversary Edition. From award-winning filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky (Paradise Lost), Brother's Keeper is a real-life murder mystery as suspenseful and compelling as any Hollywood whodunit.
Editor's Note
This acclaimed documentary explores the odd world of the four elderly Ward brothers--disheveled, illiterate farmers who have lived their entire lives in a dilapidated two room shack. When William Ward dies in the bed that he shared with his brother Delbert, police officers become suspicious. Citing motives ranging from sex crime to euthanasia, they arrest Delbert for murder, penetrating the isolated, antiquated world that left "the boys" forgotten eccentrics for so many years. As the hazy case against Delbert is investigated and brought to trial, the previously distant population of their idyllic New York town, Munnsville, warmly embrace the remaining Ward brothers, rallying in small town solidarity against the seemingly corrupt urban authorities. Though the film's raison d'être is the murder case, the Ward brothers' existence forms the riveting and intriguing crux of the film. Using their nearly unparalleled ability to gain the trust and affection of their subjects, Berlinger and Sinofsky open up a stunningly rich and complex world. This is anthropology at its most haunting; an in-depth look into an untouched slice of Americana that succeeds, as only the best documentary can, in capturing lives that are far too strange, beautiful, and elusive to be imagined.
| Features | Scene Selection | | Filmmaker Biographies | | Photo Gallery | | Original Theatrical Trailer | | Interactive Menus | | Filmmaker Commentary By Joe Berlinger And Bruce Sinofsky | | Deleted Scenes | | Never-Before-Seen Short Film: "The Wards Take Manhattan" |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: New Video Group |
| Release Date: 7/29/2003 |
| Running Time: 105 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1992 | | Catalog ID: 9542 | | UPC: 00767685954232 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Sundance Film Festival (1992) |  | Audience Award, Winner, Audience Award |
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| | Professional Reviews | Rolling Stone
"The year's best documentary....BROTHER'S KEEPER has the texture, emotion and raw urgency of a Woody Guthrie anthem - it keeps coming back to haunt you..." 02/04/1993 p.75New York Times
"...A rich slice of Americana....[BROTHER'S KEEPER] haunts the mind..." 09/09/1992 p.C15 Chicago Sun-Times
"...BROTHER'S KEEPER, the year's best documentary, has an impact and immediacy that most fiction films can only envy. It tells a strong story, and some passages are truly inspirational..." 03/26/1993 p.49 Entertainment Weekly
"...A gripping courtroom drama is enlivened by a glimpse into a rarely seen corner of rural America..." 08/01/2003 p.65 USA Today
"...1992' s most critically praised movie was BROTHER'S KEEPER....Exceptional..." 08/01/2003 p.6E Chicago Sun-Times 10 of 10
Brother's Keeper, the year's best documentary, has an impact and immediacy that most fiction films can only envy. It tells a strong story, and some passages are truly inspirational, as the neighbors of Munnsville become determined that Delbert will not be railroaded by some ambitious prosecutor more concerned with bringing charges than with understanding the reality of the situation. Seeing this film, I got a new appreciation for how deeply the notion of civil liberties is embedded in our national consciousness. None of the people on the Delbert Ward defense committee ever went to law school. But they know a lot more about fair play and due process than the people in this film who did. - Roger Ebert
James Berardinelli's ReelViews 8 of 10
At first look, Delbert and his brothers seem unlikely candidates for a documentary. However, while their lifestyle may not be all that appealing to those of us used to the modern comforts of civilization, the Wards are warm, likable people, and, during the course of this one-hundred minute feature, we come to care about them. The murder trial is just a springboard for several fascinating character studies. Berlinger and Sinofsky should be given ample credit for what they have managed to accomplish here -- the most engaging documentary since The Thin Blue Line. - James Berardinelli
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