BROTHER

Kitano's first and last directorial endeavor in the United States was the target of a lot of critical jest upon its release, something very atypical to the auteur's work. Roger Ebert praised Kitano as a director, but ultimately denounced the film, calling it "a miss". I can see how many people, many Americans, could watch this film and not like it. But the director does not stray from his typical strategies in this film. Brother is just like any other Kitano film, and it is by no means any "worse" than some of his other works. But because the film was produced under an American team, it does turn out completely different. The schemes and quirks that made Kitano's films significant did not translate over well from culture to culture. The iconic black comedy with hints of stoicism tend to come across as bad American acting. The filmmaker's trademark dead-pan feels awkward in a couple of places. The instances in the film where there are attempts at humor seem to be squandered. We think to ourselves, "Oh, well if he said it this way instead of the way he did it, I would have laughed." But the fact is, Takeshi Kitano was in a foreign place with a very different way of doing things. And although he did surround himself with the majority of his regular cast and crew, the film was going to inevitably be very different. Kitano is one of those complete filmmakers; things have to be specifically how he wants it, and this seems to be an obvious proponent toward his consistent critical success. But under these new constraints, that just wasn't possible.

I realized this, having seen a couple other films where cultural elements haven't crossed borders well. And I liked Brother just fine. The film was funny, had a nice pace, introduced some interesting relationships, all while incorporating some vintage Beat Takeshi. The instances where his comedy didn't convert well were still funny to me, simply because I saw what Kitano was trying to do and connected the dots. In fact, because most of the characters were American, (this sounds horrible) I had no trouble telling characters apart physically, so I felt like I got to know the cast well. Thus, when the film ends in tragic fashion (as most of his do), it was pretty moving. Brother was basically a half Japanese film, half Los Angeles film. The bits that took place in Japan we spot-on. They could have been mix-matched with clips of his other yakuza dramas and the viewer wouldn't be confused. But there was an obvious difference when switching between locales, a lapse. In general, the performances of the Americans felt, perhaps, a little more plastic. But regardless, I appreciated Brother as a film and don't hesitate talking about it among Kitano's other trademark yakuza films. Although he did verbally say he was not happy with the film, and would never film in America again, at least he tried, and now he knows. Hats off to the pioneer.


**** / *****

Directed by: Takeshi Kitano

Country of origin: Japan/USA

Starring: Beat Takeshi, Omar Epps