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Comparison Film v. Real Life Brothers Grimm Blog Entry 2

8 September 2019
Lauren Kircher
Fact and Fiction Brothers Grimm

      In the film "The Brothers Grimm" most if not all of the content is fictional. They are depicted as drunk delinquents, and con-artists that feed off of people's supernatural fears. When in reality, they were well-known scholars and worked tirelessly their whole lives. They were forced to grow-up very quickly after the death of their father and later grandfather. The brothers pursued their studies and persevered despite their social class and the bias placed on them by their peers. In the film the brothers go on many wild adventures that are simply fictional. They are joined by two more accomplices to help them in creating supernatural circumstances in which the brothers come and save the day.
      While reading "The Brothers Grimm from Enchanted Forests to the Modern World" by Jack Zipes I learned about the brothers family and their journey to becoming successful authors and known scholars. They had strict training in the Reform Calvinist Church along with their four surviving siblings. Both were bright and hardworking individuals and were very close to each other. This was also not depicted heavily in the film, but the brothers wrote to each other very frequently if they were not together and they openly discussed their emotions with each other. Whether if it was pertaining to their studies or not they were always open. Each of them also graduated at the top of their class from Lyzeum, and at this time the French were also invading Germany. There was no such thing as a modern unified German state at this point in their lives. This affected their writing, as well as their whole lives with trying to support their family. The Napoleonic Wars were also a huge factor in their lives, 1795-1815. Both brothers had to learn how to support themselves and their family during these difficult times.
      Despite the many differences between the film and the novel, the film clearly is made to entertain and it's Hollywood so not much accuracy should be expected. One thing that does correlate with the factual evidence in the novel is that Germany was under attack from the French and was heavily influenced by this. In the film the brothers are forced to help the French and were being hunted by them. Overall the film is just a film to entertain and give life to the brothers supposedly wild adventures that came from their fairy tales. Thanks for reading!

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