as Sugimoto Tatyana Ali as Latifa Makoto Otake as Chief of Police Kouen Okumura as Hanaoka Naomasa Musaka as Hisamatsu Rino Katase as Night Club Madame Joy Nakagawa as Marina, Yamamoto's Girlfriend Amaury Nolasco as Victor Tuesday Knight as Prostitute Tony Colitti as Roberto Antwon Tanner as Colin Soundtrack Track listing Production Impressed with Europeans' interest in yakuza, Kitano wrote what he described as an old-fashioned yakuza film. To greater contrast the character against more familiar elements, he set it in a foreign country, choosing Los Angeles as a place-holder. When producer Jeremy Thomas asked Kitano if he was interested in foreign productions, Kitano told him about the script. Thomas promised him complete creative control, which Kitano said he got. Commenting on the differing styles of filmmaking, Kitano said that American productions are more focused on the business side and are less sentimental. Kitano cited their strong pride in their professionalism as positive aspect. Release Several scenes were censored for the U.S. release. Reception At the time of its release, Brother was hyped as Kitano's vehicle for breaking into the United States film market. The film has a 47% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 73 reviews. Roger Ebert, who has praised all of Kitano's films he has seen, complimented Kitano in his review but ultimately rated the film two out of four stars, writing that "Brother is a typical Kitano film in many ways, but not one of his best ones." In his review for Variety, David Rooney wrote, "Kitano frequently tips his hat to the American gangster movie in Coppola-styled scenes of confrontation and carnage. But while many of the action set pieces are enlivened by the director’s customary verve and humor, the plot advances clumsily with the narrative engine continually sputtering and stopping. Characters are so unsatisfyingly developed that the film delivers only on a basic level as a tale of gangster rivalry, greed, elimination and expansion, with its larger themes struggling to register... “Brother” is full of elegant compositions and poised, deliberate camera movement but rarely matches the visual impact of earlier Kitano features." Marc Savlov of the Austin Chronicle gave the film two and half stars out of five, stating, "Kitano's beat is an altogether grimmer affair, laden with dark irony and unexpurgated scenes of violence. It's rougher stuff than most would expect, though not unrewarding in its own horrific way." A reviewer of TimeOut