#blood simple

National Siblings Day

In honor of National Siblings Day, here’s a selection of Sundance Film Festival titles from filmmaker sibling duos. Sibling ingenuity and collaboration in film goes back to the beginnings of cinema with brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière, pioneers in motion picture technology, narrative, and distribution. Whether it’s inventing entire fantastical universes like the Wachowskis or borrowing dad’s VHS camera like the Duplass brothers, the spirit of sibling creativity lives on in independent film.  

306 Hollywood
Directed by Elan and Jonathan Bogarin
2018 Sundance Film Festival

Do objects retain a spark of life from their owner after that person dies? This question catapults a dynamic brother-sister filmmaking duo on an epic odyssey to excavate their deceased grandma Annette’s unassuming Newark home of 71 years. Toothbrushes, tax documents, three vacuum cleaners—her motley collection of stuff becomes a universe unto itself, springing to life in the cinematic playground of this innovative documentary.

The Puffy Chair
Written by Jay and Mark Duplass
2005 Sundance Film Festival

Josh has found a great present for his father’s birthday: a puffy chair exactly like the one his dad used to have. He just has to pick it up from the eBay seller and drive it over for the big surprise, staying over at his brother’s house on the way.

Bound
Directed/Written by Lana and Lilly Wachowski
1996 Sundance Film Festival

Corky, an ex-con, who is fixing up an apartment in a high-class building, played with wonderful tongue-in-cheek flair and toughness by Gina Gershon, falls for Violet, the sexy moll of a Mafia money launderer who lives next door. Violet, played equally impeccably by Jennifer Tilly as the coquettish, “dumb” brunette, is also attracted to Corky, and once they’ve connected, both literally and figuratively, they concoct a plan to steal two million dollars.

This is My Life
Written by Nora and Delia Ephron
1992 Sundance Film Festival

Dottie Ingalls works in the cosmetics department at Macy’s on Queens Boulevard and lives with her two daughters, sixteen-year-old Erica and ten-year-old Opal, and her Aunt Harriet in a row house in Ozone Park. Dottie’s dream is to become a performer, and the sudden death of Aunt Harriet gives her the nest egg to move to Manhattan and plunge into the late-night comedy scene. Meanwhile her daughters must adapt—to new schools, new friends, and most important, to their mother’s immediate success. 

Blood Simple
Written by Joel and Ethan Coen
1985 Sundance Film Festival

A great deal of dying is done in Blood Simple and none of it done right. The plot concerns four people—a bar owner, his wife, the bartender with whom the wife runs off, and the unscrupulous and scuzzy private detective hired by the forlorn husband to kill the runaway couple.

1. Film still courtesy of 306 Hollywood | Photo by Elan and Jonathan Bogarin; 2. Film still courtesy of The Puffy Chair; 3. Film still courtesy of Gramercy Pictures | Photo by Randy Tepper; 4. Film still courtesy of 20th Century Fox | Photo by Kerry Hayes; 5. Film still courtesy of USA Films.