Slow Show

28 May 2013 | 1:33 pm | Danielle O'Donohue

"Even in our working relationship I can feel like I have these great ideas and he doesn’t appreciate them because he doesn’t believe in me. And he has great ideas but I think he’s overbearing and it’s his idea or nobody’s idea... in a certain way."

Tom Berninger is a little brother. His older brother Matt fronts The National, the successful US indie rock band whose last album High Violet made such an impact that the band toured Australia several times and even got to meet US President Barack Obama.

But Tom, the youngest of the Berninger clan, isn't really a fan of indie rock. He prefers metal. He also likes making short horror films and doesn't really seem to appreciate just how well regarded and big his brother's band are. So, when Matt invites him to go on tour with The National as part of the crew, Tom takes his video camera and we get to see things spiral out of control for the hapless new member of The National's team.

Berninger's initial intention wasn't to shoot a movie. The movie camera he packed was to shoot footage for web diaries for the band's website and little bits and pieces but two and a half years after going on tour his movie Mistaken For Strangers – that is just as much about his relationship with Matt as it is about his brother's band – has just screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York and is now on it's way to Sydney Film Festival.

“I didn't expect much of anything for a good number of years when I was working on it,” Berninger says of his film. “For my movie to be taking me to Sydney, Australia is pretty amazing. Especially when I wasn't able to go there on tour with the guys.”

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The reason Berninger never makes it to Sydney with The National is a moment in the film Drum Media won't give away, but needless to say, Berninger is keen to finally be making it down under.

From its genesis as short throwaway clips Berninger was filming because he had a camera with him, to a full blown documentary feature, Mistaken For Strangers had to be given a narrative and it turns out the best footage was of Berninger himself. Well, both Berningers and their relationship. So this documentary about The National has been turned into something else entirely though fans of the band will still enjoy the beautifully shot live footage and the insight into what life on the road with the band is like.

“It was nerve-wracking, especially for me at the end,” Berninger the younger, admits. “I had no idea the movie was going to be turned into this. I was pretty scared because I had a lot on the line. Not only was I the director and the main editor, I was the shooter and I became the main subject just because that was the best stuff. I was incredibly nervous. It still hasn't really sunk in. It's sunk in that I have a good movie but it hasn't really sunk in about what I'm going to do next.”

Berninger's relationship with his older brother is laid bare in Mistaken For Strangers, but Tom is happy to report the pair have survived the movie making process and have a stronger relationship as a result. “We have a smile on our faces a little more now. Our relationship has come into a different phase,” he says.

“For a good two years of editing I didn't know if I had a movie at all and the last six months of editing we knew we had something good. My brother was really onboard. He was loving what we were doing. We were working very hard together but he was not quite sure what this movie's reaction would be. So it was pretty difficult.”

“We were very familiar with and accustomed to seeing ourselves on camera and picking and choosing the fights we wanted to show, the funny moments or the sad moments. We saw each other as these people onscreen. We'd look at it more as a story and characters. But there's always that fear of are we just laughing at this because we find it funny? Or will it be interesting to anybody else? Will anybody even care?”

The answer is a resounding yes. But without the help of Berninger's sister-in-law Carin Besser, Matt's wife, the film may never have been finished. Besser is a former editor at the New Yorker magazine and her ability to see both sides of the brothers' relationship gave her valuable insight when it came time to edit the film.

“She was an incredibly good editor. She'd come in during the days and I'd show her cuts and she'd give me suggestions about things. She's got a really good eye and a really good sense of tone and of character and of everything. My brother and I are still not the best communicators. Carin had the ability to take both [sides] of what we were trying to say, she was definitely a translator between my brother and I in a lot of situations. She was invaluable.

“My brother and I still play these roles from when I was ten and he was 19. Even though we're not, I can still be the selfish younger brother and he can be the overbearing older brother.

“Even in our working relationship I can feel like I have these great ideas and he doesn't appreciate them because he doesn't believe in me. And he has great ideas but I think he's overbearing and it's his idea or nobody's idea... in a certain way. Carin, who met us both as adults, can see where I'm coming from without that filter of Matt's younger brother.”

Now that the film is finished Berninger gets the enviable job of taking it to film festivals to show it off, and it started in April with the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, where Robert De Niro introduced the film.

“Up until then we'd had small little testing screens with no more than ten people at a time and then this was a colossal event in my life. I've never married but I felt like this was like getting married. I wasn't even nervous. I'm more nervous about smaller screenings at other festivals.

“I think because if the movie was bad I was so up shit creek that it didn't matter anymore. I was smiling. It was like, 'Who cares? let's just have a good time. I can't believe I'm standing here.' I have no reference to that and never will. It's the most crazy event of my life.”

And if the brothers have learnt any lessons about their relationship, there's reason to hope that things have improved. Tom even sounds hopeful that this isn't the last time you'll see the names Berninger and Berninger on the credits to something.

“Maybe we'll work together again someday. I don't know on what but it's become more of a working relationship now.”