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April release only
in France, Switzerland and Belgium. International release in June
“It’s quite rare that a composer is
asked to create a score for a film where the main characters are tigers.
In the film, Two Brothers, this made it possible to work on
a wider scale that is often the case because, instead of dialogue,
we had just sounds and music.”
Click here for more...
An epic adventure of discovery, survival and
wonder, Two Brothers stars Guy Pearce (Memento, L.A.
Confidential). The screenplay was written by Jean-Jacques Annaud
and Alain Godard (The Name of the Rose, Enemy At the Gates),
based on an original story by Jean-Jacques Annaud. The film is produced
by Jean-Jacques Annaud and Jake Eberts (Dances With Wolves,
Driving Miss Daisy, A River Runs Through It, Open
Range).
Click here for more...
Deep in the heart of the Southeast Asian jungle
in the early 20th century, two tigers are born, amid the ruins of
a forgotten temple. They grow up surrounded by moss-eaten statues,
under the protective gaze of their mother, the Tigress, and their
father, the Great Tiger. Uncontested heirs to the throne, the two
brothers Kumal and Sangha are destined to one day rule this kingdom.
Click here for more...
Click here...
Click here...
 
 
“It’s quite rare that a composer is
asked to create a score for a film where the main characters are tigers.
In the film, Two Brothers, this made it possible to work on
a wider scale that is often the case because, instead of dialogue,
we had just sounds and music.
I enjoyed meeting and working with Jean-Jacques Annaud and I found
his humour and imagination a constant inspiration.”
Stephen Warbeck (Composer) won an Academy Award for his score for
Shakespeare in Love. His other feature credits include Captain
Corelli's Mandolin, Billy Elliot, Mrs Brown, Mystery
Men, Quills and Birthday Girl.
In addition to scoring motion pictures, Warbeck has written music
for more than 40 television series, including the highly successful
Prime Suspect.
His notable stage productions include the National Theatre's An
Inspector Calls, John Madden's production of Proof, Sam
Mendes' production of To the Green Fields Beyond, The Triumph
of Love and the Royal Shakespeare Company's The White Devil.
Warbeck has also written music for numerous radio plays, and is a
founding member of the anarchic pub band 'The hKippers.'
www.twobrothersmovie.net
www.universalclassics.com
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An epic adventure of discovery, survival and
wonder, Two Brothers stars Guy Pearce (Memento, L.A.
Confidential). The screenplay was written by Jean-Jacques Annaud
and Alain Godard (The Name of the Rose, Enemy At the Gates),
based on an original story by Jean-Jacques Annaud. The film is produced
by Jean-Jacques Annaud and Jake Eberts (Dances With Wolves,
Driving Miss Daisy, A River Runs Through It, Open
Range).
“I wanted the story to be reminiscent of the fables I loved so
much as a child. It is constructed upon the wondrous imaginative references
of children,” explains Annaud. “The jungle, the mysterious
ruins, the golden palace, the world of animals, the secluded areas,
the circus. The characters have one foot in the real world and one
foot in fairy tales, the rich child, the prince, his fiancée,
the hunter, the beautiful native girl, the animal tamer, the dignitary
and his ambitious wife.
“This movie is a combination of three of my greatest passions:
the animal world; a love of monasteries and temples, and my fascination
with the European colonial period,” explains Annaud. “For
this film, I did a lot of research on early 20th Century Southeast
Asia. I found marvelous photographs, watercolors, models and paintings
that inspired my story. In particular, there was a very early engraving
that I loved. It shows a number of beautiful romantic temples all
tangled in vegetation, and there in the left-hand corner is a baby
tiger. This image stayed in my mind and that’s possibly what
generated the idea for the film.”
Producer Jake Eberts first collaborated with Jean-Jacques Annaud in
1985 when he co-financed and executive-produced The Name of the
Rose.
Annaud and Goddard began writing the screenplay for Two Brothers
in 1999, and pre-production began in 2001 when Annaud and line producer
Xavier Castano began extensive location scouting. Although they visited
other locations including Australia and Thailand, the incredible temples
of Angkor near the Cambodian city of Siem Reap ideally suited the
style of the film.
Once the shooting locations were determined, Annaud set out to assemble
an eclectic mix of actors for Two Brothers. “What I really
enjoy is putting people from different backgrounds together on the
same set. A famous film star, beginners, children, tigers, circus
performers, theatre actors who have never acted in front of a camera
before. They all help each other; they all try to learn from each
other, impress each other.”
Pearce recalls, “I was immensely affected by Jean-Jacques Annaud's
film The Bear. I thought that a story in that style centered
around big cats would be extraordinary and heartbreaking.”
“I liked the fact it was about the effect that people have on
animals and have had throughout history. The story is told from the
tiger's point of view and they represent the represent 'the big picture'
that many of us have lost site of.”
How to Get Tigers to ‘Act’.
The real casting challenge was the casting of the tigers that would
portray Sangha and Kumal at various stages in the story, as well as
those portraying their parents.
Head trainer Thierry Le Portier, a fellow Frenchman worked with the
director 15 years earlier on The Bear and had more recently
worked on the Academy Award-winning Gladiator, with US-based
trainer Randy Miller. Because tiger cubs grow so rapidly, it was necessary
work out precisely when the cubs would be needed and at what age,
and then to locate tigresses that were pregnant. Ultimately, 34 different
tigers were used in Two Brothers: 28 from France, 2 from the
United States and 4 from Thailand.
Getting unrelated tigers to relate as a family unit was tremendously
challenging, particularly when it came to portraying a mother and
her cubs because of their unique relationship. Tiger cubs are vulnerable
in their first few months, with mortality as high as 50 per cent,
so all their mother’s attention goes into keeping them alive
and healthy. She spends endless time licking and cleaning them to
promote better circulation and bowel movement. Tiger mothers are caring,
committed and ruthlessly protective, and their cubs may stay with
her for up to three years if she does not have another litter
For the scenes involving the tigress and the cubs, Le Portier used
one of his favorite tigers, Jhindra.
“It was amazing, the baby played with her for 37 minutes,”
he explains. “He played with her tail, batted at her and eventually
she even licked him. I was about five meters from her during the entire
shoot, and when she started to get annoyed with the cub; I calmed
her down. To get that scene was a mix of the relationship I have with
Jhindra, the orders I gave her and the natural instincts of the cub
towards an adult female, even though she was not his mother.”
“We used method acting with the cubs,” says director Annaud.
“Method acting is simply creating an emotion in an actor that
is similar to the emotion that the character is feeling in the story.
I have a whole collection of things in my pocket that I use to attract
the cubs attention. For instance, if they sniff chocolate powder they
sneeze immediately. Yawning was more difficult. We have several scenes
where the little one gets tired and falls asleep. We had to plan for
that. We knew that half an hour after they have had their bottle of
milk they really want to sleep, so you give them two bottles of milk.
Which makes them happy and they fall asleep, so you get the shot.”
Guy Pearce had several scenes with the cubs and relished every minute
of it. He admits, “I couldn't put them down. I used to help feed
them and after a while they started following me around. And even
though the cubs are small, they’re very heavy, very strong, with
such deep voices. It was astounding.”
“With the bigger tigers, it’s not so easy,” Annaud
points out. “You can attract their attention by having someone
run away, say, on horseback, but you had better get it on the first
take; because once the tiger has seen the horse outrun him, he isn’t
interested anymore. Day after day, Thierry came up with ideas to motivate
the tigers to act in a way that works for the scene. I was very lucky;
Thierry is a remarkable trainer. He knows his animals, their instincts,
their character and how they are going to react to each situation.”
One thing Le Portier is very aware of is that no matter how well trained
his tigers are, they are still wild animals. “As soon as you
step away, he is back to being a normal tiger with all of the tiger’s
ferocity. Captive tigers are dangerous, in some ways they are even
more dangerous than wild tigers because they are around people every
day and they are not frightened of them.”
Pearce recalls, “Obviously there came a point where we really
couldn’t work closely with the tigers as they got bigger purely
because of safety. I kept hearing Thierry’s voice in my head
saying 'you can train them but you can’t tame them'. So ultimately
I have a great deal of respect for that.”
www.twobrothersmovie.net
www.universalclassics.com
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Deep in the heart of the Southeast Asian jungle
in the early 20th century, two tigers are born, amid the ruins of
a forgotten temple. They grow up surrounded by moss-eaten statues,
under the protective gaze of their mother, the Tigress, and their
father, the Great Tiger. Uncontested heirs to the throne, the two
brothers Kumal and Sangha are destined to one day rule this kingdom.
Thousands of miles away, a passion for ancient treasures has swept
the western world, creating an insatiable market for the statues that
adorn the temples and bringing fortune hunters to the jungle, determined
to loot these artifacts. One of these men is Aidan McRory (Guy Pearce),
a romantic adventurer famous for writing books about his big game
hunting prowess. Having assembled a local crew to assist him, Aidan
unintentionally violates the tigers' sanctuary and is forced to kill
the Great Tiger when it attacks a member of his party.
While Sangha manages to escape with his mother, Kumal is captured
by Aidan, who takes an immediate liking to the cub. Their opportunity
to bond is cut short when Aidan is imprisoned for looting statues,
and Kumal is sold off to a circus. Motivated by his own ambitions,
the regional governor Eugene Normandin (Jean-Claude Dreyfus) arranges
for Aidan's release and then coerces him into leading a hunting party
for the local Prince (Oahn Nyguen).
Kumal is miserable in his new circus home. Much to the chagrin of
the animal tamer Zerbino (Vincent Scarito) and the circus performer
Saladin (Moussa Maaskri), he refuses to eat and begins wasting away.
The Prince's hunting party is full of surprises when the Tigress,
believed to be shot dead by the Prince, escapes with only a shot to
the ear, while Normandin’s son, Raoul (Freddie Highmore) finds
Sangha hiding in a cave. When Normandin and his wife Matilde (Phillipine
LeRoy Beaulieu) agree to bring the cub home, Raoul is delighted with
his new playmate. But when Sangha finally fights back after being
relentlessly provoked by their pet dog, the family is forced to give
up the young tiger to the Prince's royal menagerie. There, the prince's
animal trainer resolves to break the cub's gentle nature and turn
him into a fighter for sport
While Zerbino is sympathetic towards Kumal, Saladin resorts to using
harsh measures to make the tiger perform. Robbed of his spirit, Kumal
lifelessly goes through the motions—growling, roaring and jumping
through hoops of fire.
Months later, to entertain the Prince and his new fiancée Paulette
(Stephanie Lagarde), a fight is held in the royal arena between the
Prince's tiger and the star tiger from a nearby travelling circus.
Now fully-grown, Kumal and Sangha face off in a battle to the death,
but when the two brothers recognize each other, they are soon rolling
around, playing leapfrog, turning somersaults, and rediscovering their
other childhood games. Fleeing the arena, they celebrate their freedom
by engaging in a variety of pranks—wreaking havoc in the marketplace,
invading homes and riding atop a bus.
Offering a reward for the capture of the "outlaw" tigers,
the governor persuades Aidan to lead the locals in hunting them down.
Closing in on Sangha and Kumal, they start a series of brushfires
to keep the tigers from escaping As the two tigers arrive within sight
of their beloved temples, they are trapped by a wall of fire. Kumal,
now an expert at leaping through flames, shows his brother the only
way out.
Raoul and Aidan bid goodbye to Kumal and Sangha. The two brothers
return to their kingdom, reunited with the Tigress to be free forever
among the splendour of the forgotten temple.
www.twobrothersmovie.net
www.universalclassics.com
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1 The Two Brothers
2 In the Forest
3 The Search for Kumal
4 The Raft
5 La Vergine Degli Angeli from La Forza Del Destino (Verdi)
6 Aidan & Kumal
7 Chasing the Truck
8 The Hunt
9 The Tiger Broken
10 Goodnight Story
11 Havoc
12 Sangha the Outcast
13 Aidan & Raoul
14 Recognition
15 Kumal & Sangha
16 Through the Flames
17 To Freedom (whistling by Jean-Jacques Annaud)
18 Return to the River
19 Goodbye
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Aidan McRory Guy Pearce
Eugene Normandin Jean-Claude Dreyfus
Madame Matilde Normandin Philippine Leroy Beaulieu
Raoul Freddie Highmore
Prince Oahn Nguyen
Paulette Stephanie Lagarde
The Great Zerbino Vincent Scarito
Nai-Rea Mai Anh Le
Jean-Jacques Annaud Producer, Director And Co-Writer
Jake Eberts Producer
Alain Godard Co-Screenwriter
Stephen Warbeck Composer
Thierry Le Portier Animal Trainer
www.twobrothersmovie.net
www.universalclassics.com
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