Little Elias Alder (André Eisermann) grows up in the tiny rural village of Eschberg with an unusual gift. Elias is a musical genius with a special ear for "the Music of the Spheres." He can literally "hear" the world around him. The brooding, quiet youth is shunned by the village people and hated by the local music teacher, who recognizes, all too well, Elias' unique talent. As Elias ascends to manhood, his only friend is Peter (Ben Becker), another village boy who appreciates the special youth's abilities with a more-than-brotherly love. A complication develops in this odd relationship when Peter's mother gives birth to another child, a girl named Elsbeth. Elias comes to love Elsbeth (Dana Vávrová), because he knows that their hearts "beat with the same rhythm."

In adulthood, this complicated love triangle reaches a fever pitch. Jealous of Elias' devotion to his art, Elsbeth runs off with another man. Furious over Elias' love for his sister, Peter performs a desperate and cowardly act. And, unable to return anyone's love in kind, Elias vows to "never sleep again."

Austrian director Joseph Vilsmaier has created (from Robert Schneider's 1992 novel) a lyrical compression of the gritty and the beautiful. Europeans seem to have a special talent for documenting the dirty, greasy details of pre-industrial life. In Brother of Sleep, the hard, working-class life of the Eschberg villagers is contrasted with the musical world that Elias hears in everyday life (the steady beat of hearts, the heavy drop of rain). Vilsmaier's camera (he functions as both director and photographer) soars through the snow and the rain, over the tops of the Alps and down the thatched roofs of the tiny village. The cinematography is quite stunning--a perfect complement to the film's soaring musical score.

The three main characters are all well thesped. Eisermann as the central Elias projects, memorably, the sort of otherworldly distance that most true geniuses must radiate. Becker as the loyal Peter flows through his character's many moods, from adoration to jealousy without resorting to mooniness or histrionics. And in the role of Elsbeth, Vávrová manages to glow through the dirt and rags of early 1700s peasant life, emerging as a believable object of affection.

Robert Schneider's script (adapted from his own novel) is honest and believable with just a hint of what might be termed "magical realism." The film's finale, in which Elias performs his music on a massive church organ at a competition in Vienna, is a stunner. Lovers of art, music or beauty should not miss their chance to see this intricate rumination on misunderstood (and underappreciated) genius.