Kikujiro (1999)

59% of critics liked it
(49 reviews)
91% of users liked it
(8,869 ratings)

After the success of Hana-Bi (1997), Takeshi Kitano, or 'Beat' Takeshi, as he is often called, made another film in which once again he is the director, screenwriter, editor, the leading player and the talent behind the art work. Unlike many of his films about the violent lives of the yakuza,… More After the success of Hana-Bi (1997), Takeshi Kitano, or 'Beat' Takeshi, as he is often called, made another film in which once again he is the director, screenwriter, editor, the leading player and the talent behind the art work. Unlike many of his films about the violent lives of the yakuza, Kikujiro is a bittersweet road movie about two characters who have very little in common. Masao (Yusuke Sekiguchi) is a sensitive nine-year-old boy who has to spend his summer vacation alone with his grandmother. Soccer practice is suspended and all his friends are away at the beach. In his boredom, he decides to look for the mother he has never met; with only a photo, an address, and very little money, this does not seem like a good idea. A friend of his grandmother's volunteers to send her husband along. The problem is that the irresponsible, loudmouthed, and greedy Kikujiro (Kitano), a low-level yakuza, is hardly the ideal companion for a child. He does not even like children. Starting with the excursion to the cycle races, this mismatched couple goes through a fanciful journey full of oddball characters and pleasant surprises. The best surprise of all is to discover how much they have in common. By the end of the journey, sullen Masao gains the sense of magic that had been missing from his life. As for Kikujiro, he now has a better understanding of who he is and what has been wrong with his life, although it takes a child to make him realize this. Kitano has declared that his own father, who passed away when he was a little boy, was the inspiration for the character of Kikujiro. The man was a house painter, carpenter, and master of traditional Japanese dance, but also a gambler who let his family down on many occasions. Another Japanese director, Makoto Shinozaki of Okaeri fame, has made Jam Session, a feature-length documentary on the making of Kikujiro. In competition at the 52nd Cannes Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 2 hr. 2 min.
Directed By: Takeshi Kitano, Kayoko Kishimoto
Written By: Takeshi Kitano
Genres: Drama, Art House & International, Comedy

In Theaters: Jan 26, 2000 Wide
On DVD: Dec 12, 2000
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics

Critic Reviews

Kevin Courrier, Globe and Mail
... the slapstick and sentiment make for a queasy mixture.
Patrick Z. McGavin, Hollywood Reporter
... a great deal of fun.
David Rooney, Variety
... its treacly mix of emotional manipulation and klutzy comedy will make it hard to digest for most audiences.
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
The result is a heart-tugger made totally irresistible because of the combination of Kitano's wry, sly sense of humor and his rigorous detachment.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
You can't smile when you keep feeling sorry for the kid--who is not, after all, in on the joke.
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
The film isn't just bad; it's a barely coherent, inert mess -- a heart-tugger for voidoids.
Brian Orndorf, BrianOrndorf.com
Leads with Kitano's exquisite timing and ability to mine both laughs and heartache in a single instant. It's a gorgeous take on alienation and guardianship.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Filtered through Kitano's distant and deadpan touch, the material works, and it works well.
Beth Accomando, KPBS.org
Not Kitano's best but still displays a deadpan visual cleverness that's uniquely his own.
Jeremy Heilman, MovieMartyr.com
Kikujiro, like the childhood games that its characters play, offers a temporary distraction from the disappointments of reality.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
It doesn't seem like the type of film Kitano should be making...

Read all 11 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Stella D

definitely the sweetest of kitano's films and a chance for him to show his comedic talents. it's not quite like most american films with similar themes. kitano plays off his gangster image as a loud mouth lowlife who still manages to intimidate people. the kid is a bit of… More
definitely the sweetest of kitano's films and a chance for him to show his comedic talents. it's not quite like most american films with similar themes. kitano plays off his gangster image as a loud mouth lowlife who still manages to intimidate people. the kid is a bit of a blank slate with deadpan expression through most of the film. lots of quirky characters and odd situations with a minimum of sentimental mush, altho the music gets a little sappy at times. overall charming
xGary X

Bad tempered small-time criminal Takeshi Kitano is "volunteered" to take a young boy to meet the mother he has never known, and after blowing all their money at the track they resort to hitch-hiking meeting the inevitable mix of oddballs along the way. Anyone familiar with… More
Bad tempered small-time criminal Takeshi Kitano is "volunteered" to take a young boy to meet the mother he has never known, and after blowing all their money at the track they resort to hitch-hiking meeting the inevitable mix of oddballs along the way. Anyone familiar with the films of Beat Takeshi will know of his formula of crime drama punctuated by comic snapshots of "gangsters at play", but here he ditches the whole gangster element leaving a warm if slightly aimless character study cum road movie. There is little in the way of narrative or drama, the story instead concentrating on the relationship between the boy and Kitano's worst-role-model-ever of a father figure and their comic mishaps. It may be because I'm a little too hard-bitten and cynical, but for me this wasn't quite enough; there are laughs and some nice images, but when a film dispenses with narrative driven drama, an emotional connection must replace it, and I didn't really feel it. A pleasantly amusing tale, but it all felt a little slight and insubstantial to me.
Anthony L

Kitano puts the violence to one side for a change and focuses on the good in all people. Kikujiro is beautiful 'Road movie' with all the typical kitano signatures (Games on the Beach etc) and humour. Towards the end you can't help but feel that maybe Beat hasn't… More
Kitano puts the violence to one side for a change and focuses on the good in all people. Kikujiro is beautiful 'Road movie' with all the typical kitano signatures (Games on the Beach etc) and humour. Towards the end you can't help but feel that maybe Beat hasn't been laid to rest after all. A hilarious and touching comedy of the highest calibre.
Arash X

I always had high expectations for Kitano's movies but I never expected this one to be such a great movie, Truly refreshing
Tsubaki S

A more gentle Kitano, with gentle standing for plenty of very dark gags towards the kid. In my case, i loved to see Kitano redoing the usual cliches in this type of movies with his ironic and ambigous touch. So, it goes without saying this might not click with everyone.
Daisy M

<a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i30.tinypic.com/hs3ss6.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a> If you know Kitano;s previous movies, you will be surprised to see… More
<a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i30.tinypic.com/hs3ss6.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a> If you know Kitano;s previous movies, you will be surprised to see Kikujiro, because it shows a new face of him, because he is known for his violent movies. In here there was no violence. He was sentimental, and much more gentle. But I guess he should have stick with his violent ones. I did not like it so much, it was a slow movie, of a man who helped a little boy to find the mother who abandoned him. The acting was good and the music was amazing, but that was all. There were some funny scenes also but I found it boring. There were certainly many better Japanese movies.
Emily B

What a wonderfully cute film! Straying away from his usual Yazuka films, Takeshi Kitano made this charming, Wizard of Oz insipired road movie, Kikujiro. It's a simple story of a young boy searching for his mother who ends up being accompanied by petty gangster, Kikujiro. The… More
What a wonderfully cute film! Straying away from his usual Yazuka films, Takeshi Kitano made this charming, Wizard of Oz insipired road movie, Kikujiro. It's a simple story of a young boy searching for his mother who ends up being accompanied by petty gangster, Kikujiro. The duo may seem mismatched at first but the film beautifully follows them as their friendship grows. Through out the course of this road trip they meet eccentric characters and share many hilarious and touching moments. Kikujiro is probably not as well known as some of Kitano's other films, I for one only knew Kitano for his more violent films before I discovered this, but whether you are knew to Kitano like myself, or enjoy his other work it's definitely recommended.