Brother
Directed by	Takeshi Kitano
Produced by	Masayuki Mori Jeremy Thomas
Written by	Takeshi Kitano
Starring	Takeshi Kitano Omar Epps Claude Maki
Music by	Joe Hisaishi
Editing by	Takeshi Kitano
Distributed by	Shochiku Co., Ltd.
Release date(s)	July 20, 2001 (2001-07-20)
Running time	114 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese English
Box office	$15,250,594[1]

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.

Plot [edit]

Shot in Los Angeles, California, Takeshi Kitano plays Yamamoto, a lone yakuza officer. Defeated in a war with a rival family, his boss killed, he heads to L.A.

As time passes, Yamamoto and his new gang emerge as a powerful force, gradually expanding their turf to an extent that they must confront the Mafia. The Mafia's attacks are ruthless, and soon Yamamoto and his gang are driven into a disastrous situation of no return as they are hunted down one by one.

Cast [edit]

• Beat Takeshi - Yamamoto, also referred to as Aniki (meaning elder brother)
• Omar Epps - Denny
• Tetsuya Watari - Jinseikai Boss
• Claude Maki - Ken
• Masaya Kato - Shirase, the "boss of Little Tokyo"
• Susumu Terajima - Kato, Yamamoto'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, Yamamoto's girlfriend
• Amaury Nolasco - Victor
• Tuesday Knight - Prostitute

Soundtrack [edit]

All compositions by Joe Hisaishi.

1. "Drifter... in LAX"
2. "Solitude"
3. "Tattoo"
4. "Death Spiral"
5. "Party (One Year Later)"
6. "On the Shore"
7. "Blood Brother"
8. "Raging Men"
9. "Beyond the Control"
10. "Wipe Out"
11. "Liberation from the Death"
12. "I Love You, Aniki"
13. "Ballade"
14. "Brother"
15. "Brother (Remix version)"

Critical reception [edit]

At the time of its release, Brother was hyped as Kitano's vehicle for breaking into the United States film market. The film has 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."

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 again.

The theatrical release of Brother in the US (and, therefore, the corresponding Sony Pictures Classics Region 1 DVD) contains a slightly edited version of the film. Approximately one minute of footage was cut, primarily so the film could attain an "R" rating. Most of the edits were for violence, although several key/memorable scenes were edited for time/clarity.

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.

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Brother at the Internet Movie Database
• Brother at Rotten Tomatoes
• Brother at AllRovi
• Brother at Box Office Mojo
• Official website

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