A Japanese Yakuza gangster's deadly existence in his homeland gets him exiled to Los Angeles, where he is taken in by his little brother and his brother's gang. Original Title: ブラザー
Direction
Kitano's deadpan staging makes violence feel like poetry.
Acting
Kitano's thousand-yard stare says everything he won't.
Cinematography
LA never looked this lonely, this foreign, this beautiful.
Director
Takeshi Kitano
Takeshi Kitano
Aniki Yamamoto
Omar Epps
Denny
Claude Maki
Ken
Susumu Terajima
Kato
Masaya Katō
Shirase
Royale Watkins
Jay
Lombardo Boyar
Mo
Ryo Ishibashi
Ishihara
James Shigeta
Sugimoto
Tatyana Ali
Latifa
Joseph Ragno
Rossi
Ren Osugi
Harada
Noel Gugliemi
Mexican Mafia Soldier
Pat Morita
Guy at the Poker Table
Tetsuya Watari
Jinseikai Boss
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Kitano filmed this between his two most severe motorcycle accidents; his face's partial paralysis actually enhances Aniki's unreadable menace.
The film flopped in Japan for being 'too American' and in America for being 'too Japanese'—trapped between worlds, much like its protagonist.
JP
