Provided is a motor drive circuit provided with a short brake function and a motor drive method, wherein braking operation can be performed with reliability. The motor drive circuit (11) includes oneor more pairs of transistors (Q1 and Q2; Q3 and Q4) whose collectors and emitters are connected in series with a motor, connected to the connecting point. The motor drive circuit has brake control circuits (32 and 33) and a turning off means (34); according to a brake operation instruction signal, the brake control circuits turn off either (Q1; Q3) of each pair of the transistors (Q1 and Q2; Q3 andQ4) and turn on the other (Q2; Q4); and according to the brake operation instruction signal, a turning off means forcedly turns off either (Q1; Q3) of each pair of the transistors (Q1 and Q2; Q3 andQ 4) separately from the brake control circuits (32 and 33).