Brother of Sleep Reviews

If it weren't so ponderously self-important, this ridiculously overblown adaptation of Robert Schneider's European bestseller would be a great, camp parody of 19th-century Sturm und Drang cliches, from its patina of bogus Romanticism to its ludicrous quasimystical pretensions. Tucked away in the Austrian Alps, the tiny, Godforsaken hamlet of Eschberg is plagued by dire poverty, miserable weather and congenital birth defects. But there's one sure sign of God's loving grace: native son Elias (Andre Eisermann), a musical prodigy blessed with the ability to make the world around him resound with the music of the spheres. He's loved by both the beautiful Elsbeth (Dana Vavrova) and her insanely jealous brother Peter (Ben Becker), but Elias's true passion is reserved for the town's church organ, on which he conjures music of cosmic intensity. Will Elias choose to tickle the girl or the ivories? Will he win the big organ contest and become a world-famous composer, or go mute and inglorious to his grave? Despite some beautiful photography -- the film was shot in Cinemascope by the director, Joseph Vilsmaier -- it all lacks resonance, particularly Elias's music, which recalls nothing more than the New Age noodlings of Yanni.