When it comes to international recognition, Takeshi Kitano is among the most prominent figures of Japanese cinema. Much of that could be attributed to his career versatility which made him both a prominent and instantly recognisable actor and very prolific and award-winning director at the same time. However, all those successes were, more or less, limited to Japanese cinema. An attempt to confirm himself as truly international film maker with his 2000 gangster drama Brother produced mixed results.
Takeshi plays the protagonist, “Aniki” (“Brother”) Yamamoto, Japanese yakuza whose clan had its boss killed and now must come under control of its former adversaries. Aniki doesn’t sit well with the new management, so his friends decide to help him by faking his death and arranging ticket for Los Angeles. Aniki should find shelter with his young stepbrother Ken (played by Claude Maki), but he soon discovers that young man has his own set of problems. Instead of going to college, Ken became member of small drug dealing street gang. When Ken’s comrades get in trouble with Mexican gangsters, Aniki intervenes and displays superb skills he has perfected during yakuza wars. He quickly establishes himself as leader of Ken’s gang and what used to be amateur operation is able to smash all competition, soon becoming one of pillars of organised crime in Los Angeles. Even Shirase (played by Masaya Kato), formidable boss of Los Angeles yakuzas, is so impressed with Aniki that he joins his gang. However, Aniki has little time to savour in his triumph, because impending conflict with Mafia shows that there is still someone who could match yakuzas.
Anyone expecting Brother to be gangland epic in style of John Woo is going to be disappointed. The only thing this film has in common with works of Hong Kong director is amount and hyperrealistic depiction of violence. Takeshi, on the other hand, employs style very different from Woo’s – instead of ballet-like gunplay and slow motion, his camera is static and violence, despite extremely brutal, begins and end very quickly. The biggest surprise is almost complete lack of emotion on screen. Almost all protagonists appear to be already reconciled with their fate and amount of bloodshed around them. This could be explained both by Takeshi’s minimalistic style and with the motorcycle accident that partially paralysed his face.
That doesn’t mean that Brother isn’t very interesting film. The opening scenes, that show organised crime milieu very different than the one in the West, are truly fascinating (like those in which police limit their handling of yakuza to diplomatic mediation between rival clans). However, as soon as the setting is changed to America, strange mix between Japanese gangster and his American peers, one of them being played by African American actor Omar Epps, isn’t that effective, while the plot takes cliched route of depicting rise and fall of gangland empire. The acting is, on the other hand, more than solid and that includes both Epps and Japanese American veteran James Shigeta (best known as ill-fated CEO in Die Hard) in small role of Aniki’s accountant. Unconventional soundtrack by Joe Hisaishi also creates unusual atmosphere that sets Brother apart from other films. The film received mixed reviews by otherwise Takeshi-loving critics and Takeshi himself expressed dissatisfaction with his work. However, all those who watch it might find just enough quality film making to conclude that the Hollywood experiment was worth it.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
_
Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/ InLeo blog https://inleo.io/@drax.leo
InLeo: https://inleo.io/signup?referral=drax.leo Stars Arena: https://www.starsarena.com/?ref=draxblog Unstoppable Domains: https://unstoppabledomains.com/?ref=3fc23fc42c1b417 Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax y Bitcoin Lightning HIVE donations: https://v4v.app/v1/lnurlp/qrcode/drax Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax 1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e
BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7
Posted using CineTV
