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Brother is a 2000 film starring, written, directed and edited by Japanese filmmaker, Takeshi Kitano. It is also his fifth collaboration with renowned Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi.
Plot
Shot in Los Angeles, California, Kitano plays an exiled Tokyo yakuza who sets up a drug empire in Los Angeles with the aid of his half-brother and a local gangster, Denny, played by Omar Epps. Their meteoric rise sees them inevitably clashing with the Mafia.
Critical reception
At the time of its release, Brother was hyped as Kitano's vehicle for breaking into the United States film market. Despite its minimal $12,000,000 budget, the film was a critical and financial flop, seemingly relegating Kitano to the smaller U.S. foreign film market. Many prominent American critics panned it, citing its flatness, overt violence and wooden performances. It retains a 47% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. * Roger Ebert, who has praised all of Kitano's films he has seen, complimented Kitano in his review, but ultimately denounced the film with a rating of two out of four stars, writing that "Brother is a typical Kitano film in many ways, but not one of his best ones."
The film's failure in the U.S. has been attributed to many factors, such as its Americanization, the language barriers, heavy censorship by the MPAA despite its R rating, and the lack of mainstream appeal or a popular cast.
Cast
- Takeshi Kitano - Aniki (meaning elder brother) 'Yamamoto' (name used as cover)
- Omar Epps - Denny
- Kuroudo Maki - Ken
- Masaya Kato - Shirase, the "boss of Little Tokyo"
- Susumu Terajima - Kato, Aniki's lieutnant
- Royale Watkins - Jay
- Lombardo Boyar - Mo
- Ren Osugi - Harada
- Ryo Ishibashi - Ishihara
- James Shigeta - Sugimoto
- Tatyana Ali - Latifa
- Makoto Otake - Chief of police
- Kouen Okumura - Hanaoka
- Naomasa Musaka - Hisamatsu
- Rino Katase - Night club Madame
External links
"Brother (2000 film)"