Brother – Review

As Yamamoto (Kitano) arrives in Los Angeles, he hits a clash of cultures. He and his associate Kato (Terajima) are exiled yakuza, forced out of their homeland of Japan. As Yamamoto tries to assimilate, he stays in a ritzy hotel, tipping largely. Eventually he heads downtown to look for a half-brother Ken (Maki).

As he strolls the city streets, he bumps into Denny (Epps) who drops his bottle of alcohol, and then bitches at Yamamoto for the damage. The altercation leaves Denny hurt, as Yamamoto is used to violence having served as enforcer for a tough gang.

Life in Japan as a yakuza with respect was quite different than when his family disbanded after the assassination of the leader, Big Boss. The survivors face a tough choice: they can join the killers’ gang, or fall on their swords. After failing to fit in, Yamamoto is given the chance to leave the country and avoid death, so he dips out to the States, and hits the streets of L.A. Old habits die hard as new ties are formed and violence follows. Time to go to war, and take some territory!

Brother is an interesting tale of crime and cultural clashes with foreign gangsters on American streets. It explores loyalty, power, race, money and family and features a good group of actors. The main issue I found was that it was hard to like most all of the characters, but it remains a worthy watch and has some introspective elements.