Me and My Brother Synopsis & Summary

This documentary about poet Peter Orlovsky's schizophrenic brother, Julius, is a film within a film and is generally regarded as photographer/documentarian Frank's masterwork. Brother Julius spent years in a mental hospital and upon release was put into his brother's care. Frank captures the brothers' day-to-day lives, as well as a road trip with Allen Ginsberg. At times the film breaks into another film about actors working on a film about them; cinematic devices -- including black-and-white, color cutting, and unsychronized sound -- lend an element of visual "schizophrenia" to the work. One of the players is a young Christopher Walken. The emerging document is a testament to the camera's voyeuristic tendencies and a commentary on the mentally ill in society as well as an investigation into the life of the filmmaker himself. - Denise Sullivan, All Movie Guide