Brother – BFI

Director: Takeshi Kitano
Screenplay: Takeshi Kitano
Starring: Takeshi Kitano, Claude Maki, Omar Epps, Masaya Katô, Susumu Terajima, Royale Watkins, Lombardo Boyar
Country: UK, France, Japan
Running Time: 114 min
Year: 2000
BBFC Certificate: 18

Takeshi Kitano (a.k.a. ‘Beat’ Takeshi) is a force to be reckoned with in his native Japan. A famous TV presenter, comedian, actor and filmmaker, on top of dabbling in painting and even writing several books, he’s quite a celebrity. It’s largely just his film work that has travelled over to the West though (unless you count Takeshi’s Castle, which used to be shown regularly on British television, albeit with most of his involvement edited out). Whilst never making much of a splash at the UK or US box offices, his films, which he’d usually write, direct, edit and often star in, were critically acclaimed and gained a small cult following.

In 2000, however, Kitano attempted to make a clear jump into the Western market by making a film set largely in America with mostly English language dialogue. That film was Brother.

With his Yakuza films being his main cinematic export at the time, it made sense to focus on that genre. Kitano claims he didn’t like American gangster films, stating they were more like action movies overloaded with over-the-top set pieces. With Brother, he wanted to bring the Yakuza style he knew over to the States.

The move didn’t entirely work, with Brother sadly failing to make much of an impact, commercially or critically.

Over time, however, I feel fans of the director and Japanese cinema, in general, have warmed to the film. To cater for this, the BFI are releasing Brother on Blu-ray. Not having seen the film myself, I keenly requested a copy, and my thoughts follow.

In Brother, Yamamoto (Takeshi Kitano), a hardened and respected Japanese Yakuza gang member, finds his world collapsing when his boss is murdered and his clan falls, in a brutal gang war. Faced with the choice of a shameful reconciliation with the victors or ritual suicide, Yamamoto instead chooses to flee to Los Angeles with his loyal associate Kato (Susumu Terajima).

In the unfamiliar landscape of America, he seeks out his estranged half-brother Ken (Claude Maki), only to discover he’s involved in a small-time drug operation with a multiracial crew. Unaccustomed to the lax ways of his brother’s gang, Yamamoto quickly imposes his ruthless Yakuza code, initiating a bloody and swift rise through the Los Angeles underworld.

Through intimidation and violence, Yamamoto, now known as Aniki (‘elder brother’, in Japanese), transforms Ken’s ragtag group into a formidable force, challenging established Mexican drug cartels and forming an uneasy alliance with Shirase (Masaya Katô), a powerful leader in Little Tokyo.

Their influence expands rapidly, eventually leading to a dangerous confrontation with the Italian Mafia. However, as his power grows, Yamamoto begins to lose interest in the brutal empire he’s built, becoming withdrawn and contemplative. The Mafia, unwilling to cede their territory, retaliates with deadly force, plunging Yamamoto and his gang into a desperate and inescapable battle for survival.

I’d seen a couple of Kitano’s films before Brother came out, or not long after, and liked them a lot. I think I’d partly avoided Brother though, because I was worried the change of location and studio backing would dilute his offbeat style.

Having finally seen the film now, I’m happy to report that wasn’t the case. Brother is very much a Takeshi Kitano film. You can see his fingerprints and signature style all over it (aided by the fact he wrote, directed, edited and starred in the film, as usual).

Like a lot of Kitano’s films, Brother has quite deliberate pacing. There are frequent scenes of violence, but these are short, sharp and shocking, rather than extended set-pieces. Time, instead, is often taken up by simply watching our characters and their interactions. An example of this is where the gang play basketball together. The scene doesn’t drive forward the plot but simply presents a long, wide, single take of them having a laugh. You see one of the group being left out of the passing, which annoys him, but it’s all done in jest. There are a few other sequences like this, where the gang are relaxing or goofing around. This is a trait familiar from many of Kitano’s films, and we also get a signature beach scene, as expected. Frequent collaborator Joe Hisashi provides a typically lush score too.

Like in most of Kitano’s films, dialogue is kept relatively minimal, with the storytelling done visually through sharp, clear editing of shots.

There’s some unconventional storytelling too. Not everything you’d expect to see is shown on-screen and flashbacks aren’t as clearly signposted as in most Hollywood productions. This means the audience needs to do a little more work but it makes for a more satisfying experience overall.

The shots are often simple, relying on editing to tell the story, but there are some unusual flourishes. Most notably, there are a couple of shots that start at a canted angle and either physically turn level or cut to a levelled shot. It’s a disorientating little trick.

Brother examines the clash of styles and cultures in its story and this is reflected in the contrasting acting styles. Kitano keeps quiet, simply getting things done rather than talking the talk, whereas the American members of the gang are more typically laid-back and full of vocalised bravado, at first. Yamamoto, meanwhile, just takes what he wants, with little planning or discussion. It seems reckless, but it gets results, until they get in too deep towards the end.

In this sense, Yamamoto seems to be looking for a better place to die, or rather a better situation. He wants to go out on top, not with a fizzle, as would be the case in Japan with his folded Yakuza family.

The film also touches on aspects of race. There are often slurs spoken, aimed at the Japanese, in particular, and it’s no accident that the rest of the gang are made up of black and Hispanic members. As the title suggests, this disparate band of outsiders still become brothers.

The key relationship between Yamamoto and African-American gang member Denny (Omar Epps) is explored quite subtly. Whilst I appreciated this approach for the most part, I wasn’t wholly satisfied by it. I felt the film should have spent a little more time with Denny, in particular. His character felt a touch underdeveloped, considering the role he plays by the end.

Personally, I felt too much time was spent on the ‘tit-for-tat’ gang violence instead. Whilst these scenes are usually relatively brief, there were a few too many and they grew tiresome. I guess that was the point, and it works with the direction the film takes by its conclusion, but I wanted to swap some of that out for a little clearer character development.

Overall though, whilst I found that Brother fell slightly short of the other Kitano Yakuza films that came previously, it’s still a strong effort that displays the filmmaker’s unique qualities. As such, it’s well worth a watch.

Film:

Disc/package:

Where to watch Brother