A Japanese gangster is exiled to Los Angeles where his brother lives with a small but respectable multi-racial gang, who he inspires to expand their influence.A Japanese gangster is exiled to Los Angeles where his brother lives with a small but respectable multi-racial gang, who he inspires to expand their influence.A Japanese gangster is exiled to Los Angeles where his brother lives with a small but respectable multi-racial gang, who he inspires to expand their influence.
- Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination total
Takeshi Kitano
- Aniki Yamamoto
- (as 'Beat' Takeshi)
Tatyana Ali
- Latifa
- (as Tatyana M. Ali)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis was Takeshi Kitano's only American film he ever made. In an interview, Kitano said that he did not like the final result of Brother and that he regretted his "Hollywood adventure", which was supposed to bring him a wider audience. As a result, Kitano said that he had no intention of filming outside Japan again.
- Alternate versionsUS version was heavily cut for violence to be in accordance with MPAA demands for a "R" rating.
Featured review
I am a huge fan of the brilliant cinematic genius Takeshi Kitano, his films "Hana-Bi" (1997) and "Violent Cop" (1991) are two of my all-time favorites and I also found several other Kitano films such as "Zatoichi" (2003) excellent. "Brother" of 2001 is in my opinion Kitano's weakest film up to date, which does not mean that it's bad. It is just not quite as brilliant as Kitano's other work. Kitano is once again director and leading actor, and he once again delivers a great performance in the lead.
Yakuza Aniki Yamamoto (Kitano) flees to America after his death is ordered by a Yakuza clan. Yamamoto goes to LA where his younger brother Ken is supposed to study. Instead of studying, however, Ken deals drugs with some American friends. And it doesn't take Yamamoto long to plan some drastic improvements for his little brother's gang...
Takeshi Kitano's performance is once again superb, this guy certainly is one of the greatest cinematic multi-talents who ever lived. I found the Japanese characters great in general, and if it was only for them, "Brother" would have probably almost reached Kitano's masterpieces in brilliance. I personally didn't like the American characters though. Omar Epps certainly is a good actor, but his character of Denny is just not very deep, simply the very stereotypical African American street gangster seen in two out of three cheesy Hollywood blockbusters. And that counts for the other American characters too. It wasn't actually that bad with Omare Epps, simply because he is a very good actor. Besides the flatness of the American characters, I found the movie very good. It is once again beautifully and imaginatively filmed in typical Kitano style, and it has the typical Kitano humor that I love. The movie is also very violent, so it's probably not for people who are easily offended by brutality in films. What I also really like about "Brother" is the fact that at least half of the movie is in Japanese. The Japanese characters also talk Japanese when they are in the US.
"Brother" is arguably Kitano's weakest movie, and definitely my least favorite of his movies, but that doesn't mean it's bad. We're talking about a great cinematic genius here, and "Brother" certainly is a good, suspenseful, entertaining, stylish and interesting film. In case you don't know Kitano yet, i recommend to watch "Hana-bi" or "Violent Cop" before watching this, but in case you're already familiar with Kitano "Brother" is certainly worth watching. My fellow Kitano fans should not miss this. Recommended 7/10
Yakuza Aniki Yamamoto (Kitano) flees to America after his death is ordered by a Yakuza clan. Yamamoto goes to LA where his younger brother Ken is supposed to study. Instead of studying, however, Ken deals drugs with some American friends. And it doesn't take Yamamoto long to plan some drastic improvements for his little brother's gang...
Takeshi Kitano's performance is once again superb, this guy certainly is one of the greatest cinematic multi-talents who ever lived. I found the Japanese characters great in general, and if it was only for them, "Brother" would have probably almost reached Kitano's masterpieces in brilliance. I personally didn't like the American characters though. Omar Epps certainly is a good actor, but his character of Denny is just not very deep, simply the very stereotypical African American street gangster seen in two out of three cheesy Hollywood blockbusters. And that counts for the other American characters too. It wasn't actually that bad with Omare Epps, simply because he is a very good actor. Besides the flatness of the American characters, I found the movie very good. It is once again beautifully and imaginatively filmed in typical Kitano style, and it has the typical Kitano humor that I love. The movie is also very violent, so it's probably not for people who are easily offended by brutality in films. What I also really like about "Brother" is the fact that at least half of the movie is in Japanese. The Japanese characters also talk Japanese when they are in the US.
"Brother" is arguably Kitano's weakest movie, and definitely my least favorite of his movies, but that doesn't mean it's bad. We're talking about a great cinematic genius here, and "Brother" certainly is a good, suspenseful, entertaining, stylish and interesting film. In case you don't know Kitano yet, i recommend to watch "Hana-bi" or "Violent Cop" before watching this, but in case you're already familiar with Kitano "Brother" is certainly worth watching. My fellow Kitano fans should not miss this. Recommended 7/10
- Witchfinder-General-666
- Apr 11, 2007
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Брат якудзи
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $10,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $450,594
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $60,029
- Jul 22, 2001
- Gross worldwide
- $15,250,594
- Runtime1 hour 54 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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