Brother (Kitano, 2000): Prince Charles Cinema, 6.15pm
Chicago Reader review:
A yakuza chief who’s turned up in LA helps his brother form an alliance
between Japanese and black gangsters, which rivals the city’s Italian
Mafia only until the new syndicate clashes with the old. The chief,
played by writer-director-editor Takeshi Kitano (aka Beat Takeshi),
exhales self-parody and cool in the same breath. Though he bonds with
local Omar Epps in the buddy configuration typical of action comedy,
Kitano’s handling of this convention—and of extreme violence—is unique.
The buddies are characterized by deceptively simple twists on
acknowledged stereotypes, and their intimacy evolves gradually through
an accumulation of small gestures. A wizard at manipulating time, Kitano
introduces staccato elements that interrupt the meditative pace even as
they help set it. And he uses this paradoxically peaceful tension to
inspire in us a kind of spiritual response to the violence—a sensation
that’s utterly different from the visceral reaction we have to most
actioners, which we only hope is catharsis.
Pat Graham
Here (and above) is the trailer.
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