My Brother the Devil 2012- Sally El Housaini

My Brother the Devil 2012- Sally El Housaini

Sally El Housaini changed a typical hood drama. Instead of the stereotypical black protagonist, she uses an Egyptian protagonist. This is effective in highlighting the different cultures in British society. The use of an Egyptian protagonist can also link to her previous films. For example, her short film Henna Nights has an Indian protagonist. Housaini uses people of different cultures to highlight diversity.

A large majority of the film includes drugs. The protagonist and his brother both get involved in drug deals. The tension of the drug deals and the issues within the gang are shown by the lighting in the scenes.

  

In the house where the drug deals take place, the curtains are drawn. This in turn creates shady lighting. The lighting helps the audience understand the tension in the scene seen as they are performing drug deals. A lot of the gang members see the drug business as a way out of the estate. They have hope in their business. We cans see that hope form the lighting. The curtains have bright light coming through them, but the light almost seems muted. This can connote the fact that the drug business is not the way out for the gang members.

Housaini presents Aisha as Mo’s escape from the drug gang. She doesn’t like him in the gang and turns down a necklace he brought with the money he made form thee drug deals. In a shot with Aisha, she is playing with a sparkler. It almost looks like she is staring at him, making him feel guilty. The sparkler can represent his glimmer of hope. Mo cares for her and doesn’t want to disappoint him. If he lets her down, the connection that they have will go out, like the sparkler.

Similarly to Fish Tank, this film is effective in highlighting what issues the younger generation have. All characters in both films have to defend for themselves and essentially grow up. Mia and Mo can be seen to have similarities. Both characters have to find their strength in order to escape their isolated lifestyle. They both have an escape. Mo has Aisha and his rapping as his escape and light into the future. Mia builds a relationship with Billy to allow her to escape the estate. They both have the same motive; Escape the estate. This can show that both directors use an estate to show how the characters class and circumstance can hold them back.