Takeshi Kitano's career can be broken down into a series of loosely-connected trilogies. His career started with what could be described as the 'Violence Trilogy', with his yakuza/cop dramas "Violent Cop", "Boiling Point" and "Sonatine" in the early Nineties. This was followed in the latter half of the decade with three introspective, considered and more intimate films "Kids Return", "Hana-bi" and "Kikujiro". There is also the autobiographical "Takeshis" trilogy, looking at his career as a celebrity ("Takeshis"), director ("Banzai! Glory to the Filmmaker") and artist ("Achilles and the Tortoise"). And the straight yakuza drama of the three "Outrage" films.
But after the increased international success that he experienced in the Nineties, he tried a trio of more experimental films, taking himself a little out of his comfort zone and trying new things. All had elements which had been seen from him before, but placed in a new context. All would have good international recognition, but also served as a turning point for his career. Following this more experimental trilogy, his films became less readily-available in the West, as well as a decline in their reception, as he struggled to re-find his voice as a filmmaker.
The starting point was - riding on the wave of international success - the Tokyo-LA crossover "Brother". But, despite being an international co-production, this is very much from the perspective of a Japanese in America, rather than a Japanese director making a Western film.
The title is an obvious play on Kitano's role as Aniki, the Japanese term for an older brother or senior, and the African-American culture in which he finds himself. With his family in Tokyo about to be absorbed by their rival after the death of their boss, Aniki's refusal to co-operate makes him a dead man walking. He has to leave the country, and so heads for LA to stay with his younger half-brother Ken (Claude Maki).
Sent to study in America, Aniki is less than impressed to find him a low-level drug dealer. But knowing only one way to live, his natural yakuza comes out, and he is quick to turn Ken's crew, led by Denny (Omar Epps), into a more organised crime unit. Working in drugs, they unite with the local Japanese of Little Tokyo and take over the Mexicans, but when the mafia get involved, their demise will be as fast and their rise.
Whether or not trying to win favour with a Western audience, the violence on offer here is much more in your face (quite literally in Denny's case), with guns firing at will from all angles. Aside from the dark alley scene, where the flashing of machine gun fire temporarily lights up those getting riddled with bullets as in "Sonatine", most of the gunplay is straight point-and-shoot mass murder. Perhaps Kitano is playing with us, however, as you feel his tongue in his cheek in the final showdown, where an unnecessarily large mafia firing squad choreograph their act. Maybe he feels America is a more gun-loving society!
But the editing is not as clever and well-worked here. Things are shown, more than implied, and there is even the use of montage as a storytelling device to chart the rise of the crew, making this a slightly lazier film. The script also feels a little awkward in parts, notably Aniki's handling of tips with the hotel porter and their meeting with the Mexican bosses. It does feel written by an outsider.
The fish-out-of-water setting also allows Kitano to fall back into his standard character with elements of the stone-faced, shades-wearing man of few words; a step back from the more lively and expressive portrayal of Kikujiro. And this is very much a Kitano film, with moments of play frequently incorporated bringing with them humour as the Japanese and African-Americans bond; and the heavily male-orientated cast and its hierarchical structures. Again, women are left out of this male bonding, with female characters very much on the periphery.
But, despite its flaws, "Brother" has that fun air of an American action film and is an easy watch. This is a more simplistic, blatant and entertaining film than much of what came before it. Less rewarding, but serves you well on a Saturday night in. Not exactly a jump over to Hollywood, this is a film set in another country, made in a style the director felt reflective of the host's style. Indeed, Katsumi Yanagijima's angled cinematography shows the scene being viewed from a different perspective.
Politic1983.home.blog.
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