Brother (2000 film)
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| Directed by | Takeshi Kitano |
| Produced by | |
| Written by | Takeshi Kitano |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Joe Hisaishi |
| Edited by | Takeshi Kitano |
| Distributed by | Shochiku Co., Ltd. |
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Release date
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Running time
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114 minutes |
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| Language | Japanese English |
| Box office | $15.2 million |
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| Soundtrack album by Joe Hisaishi | |
| Released | 27 January 2001 |
| Genre | Stage & screen |
| Length | 49:39 |
| Label | Polygram, Silva America, Milan Records |
| Producer | Joe Hisaishi |
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| Allmusic |   |
Brother is a 2000 American-British-Japanese film starring, written, directed, and edited by Takeshi Kitano.
Takeshi Kitano plays Yamamoto, a brutal and experienced Yakuza enforcer, whose boss was killed and whose clan was defeated in a criminal war with a rival family. Surviving clan members have a few options: either to join winners, reconciling with shame and distrust, or to die by committing seppuku. Yamamoto, however, decides to escape to Los Angeles along with his associate Kato (Susumu Terajima). There he finds his estranged half-brother Ken (Claude Maki), who runs a small-time drug business together with his local African-American friends. At the first meeting, Yamamoto badly hurts one of them, Denny (Omar Epps), for an attempt to fraud him. Later, Denny becomes one of the Yamamoto's closest friends and associates.
Getting used to live in a clan and according to its laws, Yamamoto creates a hapless gang out of Ken's buddies. The new gang quickly and brutally attacks Mexican drug bosses and takes control of their territory in LA. They also form an alliance with Shirase (Masaya Kato), a criminal leader of Little Tokyo district, making their group even stronger. As time passes, Yamamoto and his new gang emerge as a formidable force, gradually expanding their turf to such an extent that they confront the powerful Italian Mafia. Now everybody respectfully addresses Yamamoto as Aniki (兄貴, elder brother). But soon Aniki suddenly loses any interest in their now successful but dangerous business, spending his time with a girlfriend or just sitting silently thinking about something. However, the Mafia ruthlessly strikes back, and soon Yamamoto and his gang are driven into a disastrous situation of no return as they are hunted down one by one.
Impressed with Europeans' interest in yakuza, Kitano wrote what he described as an old-fashioned yakuza film. To greater contrast the character against more familiar elements, he set it in a foreign country, choosing Los Angeles as a place-holder. When producer Jeremy Thomas asked Kitano if he was interested in foreign productions, Kitano told him about the script. Thomas promised him complete creative control, which Kitano said he got. Commenting on the differing styles of filmmaking, Kitano said that American productions are more focused on the business side and are less sentimental. Kitano cited their strong pride in their professionalism as positive aspect.
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