Wow ... I found my old posting in filmwurld.com again ...

This movie has garnered the
-- Best Actor Award and Best Actress Award at San Sebastian Film Festival 2004
-- Audience Award at Sundance Film Festival 2005
-- Critics Award at Hamburg International Film Festival 2004

Well, in my humble opinion, most of the synopsis gives too much away. Hence, I shall refrain from doing so. 

All that I will say is:
-- At a lower level, it is a family drama that begins with a typical near perfect elder brother and seemingly all bad younger brother. Predictably, everything is not going to be as clear!
-- On a higher level, it is about life: Whether we really have control over life! The movie begins with and "nearly" ends with the same scenes/lines/message ... the gist of the message is, "In life, there is no right or wrong ... there is no good or bad ..." More precisely, how would we handle things beyond our control.
-- It is also about love: What will we do for love?

Despite being a low budget film, using a hand-held camera and video, it is pretty well directed. Initially, the director keeps "paralleling" certain scenes by alternating them. I have to admit that I prefer the beginning scenes, and the last half of the movie. Somewhere in the middle, although it is still good, it is not very different from many family drama that I have watched.

The movie is good in depicting reality, with the exception of the "plot twist" (if it can be called that). I believe some audience may find it slightly unconvincing. Nonetheless, for most part of the movie, acting/plot/dialogues/etc do come across as natural, especially from the cast. Indeed, the cast is worth commending! 

In sum, many who have family/kins/friends who are sent to war will be able to identify with some issues. Worth watching!