Brother ★★★ 2000 (R) Kitano's films are something of an acquired taste. He mixes abrupt graphic (and usually brief) violence with prolonged scenes of introspection, and when it comes to expressing emotion, he seldom does more than twitch or take off his sunglasses. But the man is cool, and to those who accept his measured pace, his work has a hypnotic quality. In his first film set in America, he plays Yamamoto, an exiled Japanese yakuza who partners up with street hustler Denny (Epps) and takes on the local drug gangs. Yes, that's the stuff of hundreds of video premiere action flicks, but he transcends the cliches. English and Japanese dialog with subtitles. 118m/C VHS, DVD, Wide. JP Takeshi "Beat" Kitano, Omar Epps, Kuroudo Maki, Masaya Kato, Susumu Terajima, James Shigeta;
Director:
Takeshi "Beat" Kitano;
Writer:
Takeshi "Beat" Kitano;
Writer:
Katsumi Yanagishima;
Cameo:
Joe Hisaishi.
