Product: Brother [VHS]
Rating: 4.0
The coolest man on Earth
Kitano's first (and only) feature film foray into English language territory, BROTHER may be Kitano at his simplest, but most certainly at his coolest - since Hana Bi, anyway.Kitano plays a disgraced Yakuza foot soldier whose extreme behaviour sees him exiled in the US, where his younger brother lives. Kitano starts his new life exactly where his old life left of - with extreme violence.This is Kitano at the height of his self-destructive performances. Separated from his "family", adrift in a banal culture, with little understanding of the language, his fast and fiery rise to power is bested only by his rapid decline.One gripe: when are we going to see more features - particularly commentaries - on Kitano DVDs. Even ZATOICHI is barren of such DVD basics.