Brother review (DVD) ★★

Review by Adam Stephen Kelly
Stars Beat Takeshi, Omar Epps, Claude Maki, Masaya Kato, Ren Osugi, Susumu Terajima,
Kurodo Maki, Royale Watkins, Lombardo Boyar, Ryo Ishibashi, James Shigeta | Written by Takeshi Kitano
UK Certification 18 | UK RRP £15.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 109 minutes | Directed by Takeshi Kitano

For many years I have sat in awe of Takeshi Kitano's work. He is a master of cinema – one of the greatest film-makers alive today – and just about the purest form of an auteur that you could possibly imagine. Kitano writes, directs, edits and acts. He is the total package, the Clint Eastwood of the Orient, and the closest movie marvel in the industry today to the wonderment and excellence of the late Akira Kurosawa. The man has sensually treated us to such classics as Violent Cop, Zatoichi, Sonatine and Fireworks, and I've never once felt let down by one of his films. That is until now, at least.

The year 2000's Brother was Kitano's first and only attempt at breaking the American market. For the most part a critical and financial dud in the States, the movie was a lesson for the film-maker and he has since vowed to never again attempt to make a film for audiences outside Asia, even admitting that he was disappointed with the final product. A wise decision as his prowess has for years attracted a strong foreign following on home entertainment formats. A Kitano fan will always go out of their way to see a Kitano film, no matter its reception, and Brother is no different. By no means a poor film, the script in this decade-old effort is distinctly lacking from its direction, which is, as usual, stellar.

Starring and written, directed and edited by the man himself, Brother follows the cool and quiet Japanese gangster Yamamoto (Kitano, credited here as Beat Takeshi as per usual) as he endeavours to crack the American underworld after being exiled from his native country. Taking refuge in Los Angeles, Yamamato joins his half-brother and his gang to form a Stateside Yakuza and take over the narcotics scene in the City of Angels. Their strategy? Kill the competition. Their rise to the top is fast but the amount of enemies they make in the process is astronomical.

Let's get the obvious point out of the way first: the film is beautifully shot. Its almost minimalist cinematography and use of long shots to capture the action or lack thereof is nothing short of stunning. With an abundance of dry wit, dark humour and charm, as well as lashings of bloody violence – the body count is 78 and there isn't a single death obscured by distance or foddered off in the background like in Lord of the Rings – Brother is very much a Kitano movie, it's just not full of the compelling brilliance that we're used to from the auteur, and is instead a piece that fails to engage and is almost mundane. The story lacks energy and action and is stretched incredibly thinly over the near two hours that it runs for. The American casting also leaves a lot to be desired.

With its aesthetic sweetness and its soulless sourness, is Brother a film that was lost in translation? Only Kitano really knows for sure, but for me the viewing experience was severely underwhelming.

EXTRAS ?? A making-of featurette; interviews with the cast and crew; the trailer; and a photo gallery.

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