This movie is in a class by itself. It is it by turns funny and frighteningly violent.<br /><br />It reminded me a bit of Gilbert Grape, since it is a about a man who lovingly cares for his retarded younger brother. The retarded brother Rud looks a bit like a troll. He is repulsive at first and gradually he grows on you as you realise he is not dangerous.<br /><br />The pace in very slow, like a Sunday afternoon picnic in the Danish countryside.<br /><br />Counterposed to this is the frantic life of a prostitute trying to get away from her perverted and violent clients, and the way the hookers band together for mutual protection.<br /><br />One of the charming themes is the way Rud wins over the obnoxious younger brother of the prostitute, and in a way tames him.<br /><br />The title Mifune comes from a game the brothers play, with the older one pretending to be a terrifying samurai who lives in the basement.<br /><br />The pace can be maddenly slow, somewhat like the Unbearable Lightness of Being, with nothing much happening, just like real life, then POUNCE some momentous event lands out of the blue.