10/12/2025
I know! It’s been awhile. Rewatched (for the first time in decades) Takeshi Kitano’s one and only American production, Brother (2000).
Excellent, dream-like take on gang violence being transported from one continent to another. With its breezy jazz score intermixed with graphic scenes of ultraviolence, the viewer is taken on quite the tonal journey. There weren’t necessarily any heroes… in fact, the film borders on nihilism with its “it is what it is” approach to gang warfare. Despite the intense stakes, the film also, at times, qualifies as a hang out picture and is often presented with the pomp and circumstance of a highly produced stage show. It is an enigma yet also so so simple. Adore it.
