Mistaken for Strangers, Soho Curzon

Acclaimed American indie rockers The National are known more for their melancholia than their rock and roll lifestyle. It is fitting, therefore, that behind-the-scenes tour documentary Mistaken for Strangers is not a chronicle of vice but an intimate portrait of the relationship between two brothers: The National’s brooding frontman Matt Berninger, and his slacker brother Tom.

Praised by critics for its original take on the music documentary genre, the film is given a unique edge through being shot by aspiring (and previously failing) filmmaker Tom. 

The younger Berninger is invited along for his big brother’s band’s tour as a roadie, but is incapable of accomplishing even that. Rather than attending to his roadie duties, the endearingly feckless Tom spends his time filming the band, the tour and the people involved. Through the fraternal competition between the pair we get to see a more human side of the often imposing and distant Matt Berninger.

The film is showing at the Soho Curzon, Victoria Curzon and the Institute of Contemporary Arts from June 27 until July 3.