Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

BallWubba Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Takeshi-K This is the only film Japanese crime filmmaking legend, Kitano Takeshi, has ever made in America. He has flatly refused to make a film outside the confines of Japan ever since.Takeshi started his career as a TV variety show host and comedian before trading his mic for pistols. Having gone the gangster route, crime film fans around the world have rejoiced ever since. For those of us that grew up in Asia though that transition was something of a shock. Think Regis and Kathy Lee doing Godfather IV. Weird right?This film opens up in Japan, deep within Yakuza held territory. Takeshi plays a character called Aniki, the right hand man of his Yakuza master, whose every whim must be satisfied at all times. Underlings scurry about opening doors, lighting cigarettes, procuring young Women. After foiling an assassination plot, his boss is killed anyway and for his dishonor, Aniki is ordered to flee to America until the heat dissipates.Humiliated, he strides around the mean streets of Los Angeles' underworld something worse than a marked man - he is now a masterless Ronin, without honor. This may not be true, but I like to think that his character abounds in Samurai lore. His behavior is of a man that is already philosophically dead in much the same way that the noble Samurai's code of Bushido extols that a true warrior must always think of himself as already dead, thus there is no fear in the face of one's enemy. Kitano's dead eyed greeting toward an unfamiliar modern world is stunning in it's simplicity and underpins what I just wrote.There is the usual fish out of water language confusion. He over tips the cab driver and gets abused by some racist American slob - "The asshole doesn't even speak English!"He finds his younger "brother" (not his real brother - they were both adopted), but rather a young man he also calls "Aniki" which we soon realize is not his actual name, but a cool word meaning "brother" in Japanese. The two of them call each other that. Nice touch.Anyway Aniki gets angry when he finds out that his younger "brother" has quit school and his job, in order to sell drugs with some Black and Hispanic hoodlums. Aniki quickly asserts his authority by single handedly slaughtering the local drug dealers who have been bullying the young hoodlums he just met, thus impressing them no end into happily accepting his tutelage in the world of strong arm extortion and drugs.So begins Aniki's rise to power, eventually stepping on some very powerful toes - namely the Italian American Mafia. A war ensues, throttling this excellent crime film towards it's cataclysmic and bloody finale. Epic stuff indeed 9/10

bob the moo Yakuza Aniki Yamamoto learns that his sworn brother has been instructed to kill him and agrees to leave Japan and go to the US to join with his younger brother. On arrival he finds that his brother is a street-level criminal along with several others but that he is being squeezed and brutalised by other gangs. Born to war and violence, Aniki quickly draws a line in the sand, killing those that have been standing against the gang. This starts the rise of the gang from the street-level to holding actual turf within the organised crime world of LA, however the violent rise to power brings them increasingly into conflict with the larger masters of the scene.I eventually gave up listening to the Movies You Should See podcast (I got fed up hearing about "this bit" and "that bit" in what was essentially plot synopsis) one of the last I listened to reminded me that not only has it been over a decade since I saw a Kitano-directed film, but that I have actually seen surprisingly few of those considered required viewing. So as I unsubscribed on iTunes, I also went on LoveFilm and added a handful of these films to my list. Perhaps not the best place to start, the first to arrive was Brother, his first American film. As others have said it is not a totally successful mix but it is still an interesting and engaging one. Apart from some early flashbacks, the narrative is relatively linear and easy to follow but still very much in the style of Kitano in how detached, silent and violent it is.In these regards the film does deliver but it comes over as a twist on the many gangster films of the period where a Tarantino template was being followed. The patience and cold air to the story makes it feel interesting and different, which is what it is. Where it doesn't work as well is putting people, emotions and characters clearly onto the screen. There are one or two moments where stuff does come across but too often the detached eyes of the camera fed through onto the characters and story, making me not care that much about what was happening beyond the style and the basic story. This is a weakness for me and it is because of this that I consider it good but not great by any means.Kitano is visually and style-wise very good here but his rushed shoots and lack of rehearsal may have contributed to the cast not really always "getting" their characters beyond the specific actions of that scene. For himself, Kitano's trademark silence and cool air carries him but it is the other cast that struggle. Epps is a good presence in the cast but I didn't feel for him that much when compared to some of the minor actors who managed to convey a lot with just their faces and body language. Some have said about the language barriers but I do not think this was an issue so much as there just not being sufficient emotional content in the story, characters and performances.Brother is worth seeing as an alternative gangster film and an unusual product. It bares all the hallmarks of Kitano but for me personally I thought it didn't have enough in the way of heart in the main characters and this did seem to leave some of the cast focusing on the actions within each scene.

johnny-08 Another interesting movie from well known Japanese director Takeshi Kitano.Kitano established himself as an excellent director and in this one he acts good too.His face has no emotions in portraying this character.He had help from some American actors,especially Omar Epps.Probably you wonder what connection could possibly have Kitano and Epps but there are few scenes in witch they work perfectly.Movie has lots of blood,lots of dead people but it also shows us the way of living.The underground scene of Japan and America.Gangs,drugs,weapons,yakuza,Japanese and Americans.The only man who can connect this is Kitano and his excellent writing.This is definitely not the best Kitano movie but it's worth watching.Because of very good script.Because of very good acting.And finally because of Takeshi Kitano's talent.

RainDogJr I know my friends here in IMDb that this is an strange question and also is very illogic because well, Kitano is much older than Quentin in films question but also in age and also Quentin release a Kitano film in his Rolling Thunder Collection: Sonatine (1993) ...but this question is the tag line of the BROTHER DVD here in Mexico City, the DVD says: Brother (El Capo): A film by Takeshi Kitano "The new Tarantino" This is for laugh to all the KItano fans........but for me was really helpful because i never knew about Takeshi KItano (sorry for that) and of course i knew about Quentin and when i saw this film in DVD with this tag line, well i buy it very fast and saw it the same afternoon.Later i start to investigate about who is Kitano, and i found this surprise: Takeshi Kitano is like a influence for Tarantino and is one of the most important films maker of Japan.And well right now i'm trying to buy all the films of Takeshi Kitano but is a little hard here in Mexico City because not many people Knows about Takeshi Kitano.ABOUT THE FILM BROTHER: The reason why i started to investigate about Kitano was that i really enjoy and love this excellent film.This is not the common film about gangsters that we already know........this is a very original and great history about a gangster of Japan who need to move to the US for questions of his work.There in US, this gangster (Takeshi Kitano) show to the little gang of his young brother that what they need to grow up in the matter of business is a leader like him.Very soon this gang start to take the control of LA and finally they need to fight against the most powerful gang in LA: The Italian mafia.The story is,for a lot of people and critics, very common but for me KItano make this story very original because he put elements that never were released in another film about gangsters.This elements are of course, the character that plays himself because he can't talk English but still can control the gang of his brother. Other elements are the excellent scenes like the one were he cut the face of a black guy that latter is in his gang and well the performances (all) are excellent and also the direction is great.BROTHER (2000) is an excellent film and well: Takeshi Kitano is not the new Tarantino...OK???