Brother (2000 film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| 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 |
| Distributed by | Shochiku Co., Ltd. |
| Release date(s) | 2000 |
| Running time | 114 min |
| Language | English Japanese |
| Budget | $12,000,000 |
| 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.
Contents |
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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. [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."
It's worth noting that the film has since achieved semi-cult status. The IMDb average review sits firm at just above 7 out of 10 and many believe the film was widely underrated.
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.
[edit] Cast
- Takeshi Kitano - Yamamoto, also refered 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
[edit] Trivia
[edit] External links
Violent Cop • Boiling Point • A Scene at the Sea • Sonatine • Getting Any? • Kids Return • Hana-bi • Kikujiro • Brother • Dolls • Zatoichi • Takeshis'
