| Brother | |
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| Directed by | Takeshi Kitano |
| Produced by | Masayuki Mori Jeremy Thomas |
| Written by | Takeshi Kitano |
| Starring | Beat Takeshi Omar Epps Claude Maki |
| Music by | Joe Hisaishi |
| Distributed by |  Shochiku Co., Ltd. Office Kitano Sony Pictures Classics |
| Release date(s) | 2000 |
| Running time | 114 min |
| Language | English Japanese |
| Budget | $12,000,000 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
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. This was also Kitano's first collaboration with designer, Yohji Yamamoto. The French title for the film is Aniki, Mon Frère (lit. Aniki, My Brother).
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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. But the brother of the title is a local gangster and friend of the half-brother, 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 flatness, overt violence and wooden performances. It retains a 47% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. [1] 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. On his side, Kitano self-admitted in an interview, that he was not fully satisfied with the final result of Brother and that he regretted his "Hollywood" adventure which was supposed to bring him a broader audience with a higher exposure. Therefore, Kitano confessed he had no intention of shooting outside Japan anymore. One reason for such critical reception, including the claim that the story is pointless and undeveloped may be due to the US version of the film being significantly different than the original version. The theatrical release of the film in the US and the corresponding Sony Pictures Classics Region 1 DVD, contains a heavily edited version of the film. This version was edited for time, content, and to attain an R rating[1]. Approximately 30 minutes of footage has been cut, primarily the story-building scenes set in Japan. The film also has an edited color palette and some gore has been digitally painted out of the film. The uncut version of the film was released in the UK (Region 2) with an 18 rating, and Japan (Region 2J), also with a 18 rating.
Cast
- Beat Takeshi - Yamamoto, also referred to as Aniki (meaning elder brother)
- Omar Epps - Denny
- Kuroudo Maki - Ken
- Masaya Kato - Shirase, the "boss of Little Tokyo"
- Susumu Terajima - Kato, Aniki's lieutenant
- 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
- Joy Nakagawa - Marina, Aniki's girlfriend
- Amaury Nolasco - Victor
References
- ^ Brother (2000). DVD version comparison. Rewind at DVD Compare.net. Retrieved on 2007-09-28.
External links
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| Violent Cop • Boiling Point • A Scene at the Sea • Sonatine • Getting Any? • Kids Return • Hana-bi • Kikujiro • Brother • Dolls • Zatōichi • Takeshis' • Glory to the Filmmaker! |
