Product: Brother [VHS]
Rating: 3.0
A Japanese gangster in LA
Its hard to put a finger on exactly what went wrong with "Brother." Takeshi Kitano is an immensely talented film director and actor, but i suppose even he has to miss the mark sometimes.The story has potential. An exiled yakuza goes to his half-brother in Los Angeles after finding himself on the wrong side of a gang war in Japan. There, he does what he knows best and begins forging a rag-tag collection of petty thugs and drug dealers into a professional gang, finally feeling big enough to challenge the Italian Mafia for control of the area.However, in going to the US Takeshi left his area of expertise, and it shows. I once read an interview with him, regarding his American debut in "Johnny Mnemonic," where he said that the American director didn't really understand what a yakuza was. Unfortunately, the same thing is true here. Takeshi doesn't really understand the Los Angeles gangs, and the whole thing seems fake. What works in Japan doesn't necessarily work in the US, and Takeshi doesn't explore these differences. He just has everyone instantly fall in line with the Japanese Way. He also has trouble directing the English speaking actors, and their dialog falls flat.There are some good bits here. Takeshi's character, Yamamoto, is an interesting figure, quite and soft-spoken but every bit a hard-core villain. His first entry into the US, not understanding the English and customs around him, is a fascinating study of cultural isolation. Another favorite scene is when he has a gang members pinkie cut off when he fails, although no one else around him understands why. They don't get the yakuza expression of penance.This was meant to be Takeshi's transition film for US audiences, and he hoped that the Los Angeles setting would provide a familiar door for viewers. He also mines freely from some of his older flicks, especially "Sonatine" which has a similar theme of a gangster in exile. Plenty of yakuza and "Japanese" stereotypes and pitched in for the Americans as well, things that would never normally appear in a Takeshi flick. Trying to bridge both worlds meant that he ultimately failed to do either. The Japanese world that he knows so well gets mixed into the unfamiliar American gangland, and both suffer."Brother" is not a terrible film by any means. He is still Takeshi Kitano, and even his worse flick is still worthwhile. But it just doesn't achieve any of the greatness that we have come to expect.