By 1999 Takeshi Kitano had quite rightly gained a lot of international recognition for his brilliantly constructed Yakuza/Cop stories, but was apparently dis-satisfied that everybody tended to focus on the violence in them. So he decided to make a movie without any violence to remind people that he was a much more rounded talent than that. "Are you sure about this?", the world asked. "Yes", he replied... and made Kikujiro.

Kikujiro is difficult to adequately describe, but the fact that it was allegedly inspired by the Wizard of Oz is a good starting point. The basic premise is a road trip, where Kitano is the unlikely chaperone for a little boy who wants to go and find his mother. After gambling away all the money his wife gives him to take the kid, they have to improvise their transport across the country. Along the way they meet a small but colourful cast of characters, and get to know each other a little bit too.

I'd hesitated about picking this up for ages, and eventually went for a rental rather than a purchase. Kitano minus violence just didn't seem right! But that was definitely an injustice I was doing him, and Kikujiro is a good demonstration that his talents really are much broader. In fact, after watching it there is no doubt that he is one of the greatest director/actor/writer and editor working in the world today. A brilliantly painted story, full of subtly and quirkiness. Awesome cinematography and an incredible soundtrack... truly world class in every respect. Well, to be fair the child actor was a bit stiff, but it seems mean to hold that against the movie.

Definitely recommended if you haven't already seen it!

In the title role of this highly original 1999 road movie, Beat Takeshi - with his twitching eye and bow-legged shuffle - looks and acts like a cross between Mickey Rourke and Harvey Keitel with a heavy dose of Walter Matthau's sourpuss demeanor (circa "The Bad News Bears") for good measure. He creates a truly memorable character - cynically profane, unapologetically insulting, childishly manipulative and somehow likable. As the director and screenwriter of said film, Takeshi Kitano - the same guy - has fashioned something quite unique from a tired premise - a boy's search for his mother and the gruff man who begrudgingly helps find her. What could have been a predictable and sentimental wallow, especially with the indiscriminate use of angels as a pervasive symbol, is instead an idiosyncratic, emotionally adroit film that sometimes simmers on the cusp of violence.

Yet it becomes ultimately affecting almost in spite of itself. In fact, Kitano does such a resolutely offbeat job that at certain times, the film reminds me of the narrative ellipses and low steady shots that were the trademark of Yasujiro Ozu's home dramas, intermingled with a surprisingly intense Quentin Tarantino-like, in-your-face edginess. The protagonist of the film is really the latch-key nine-year old, Masao, who is on a quest to find the mother whom his grandmother says is "away working". With his sad eyes and cherubic face, Yusuke Sekiguchi is perfectly cast as Masao providing the moral compass for the story. Whether he is running with his arms flailing or forlornly playing soccer by himself, he is poignant without being saccharine and completely natural. It is Masao's scrapbook that provides the framework for the film lending each chapter a descriptive title. Every chapter has a distinct character that is, in various turns, playful, hilarious, disturbing, surreal and heartbreaking. Case in point: Kitano is not afraid to use a child molester as first an uncomfortable source of black humor and then as the subject of Masao's nightmare. My favorite scenes come toward the end when Kikujiro organizes a motley crew of misfits to play games with Masao and have them masquerade as Indians, aliens, marine life and even watermelons. The variety in tone between chapters makes for unexpected tonal shifts, but somehow it works and adds to the greater context of the story.

That Kitano is able to manage a consistent film-making style with a strong visual sense is a credit to the talent behind the camera - not only Kitano's direction, script and film editing but also his artwork showcased throughout the movie, Katsumi Yanagishima's sharply rendered cinematography and Joe Hisaishi's evocative Windham Hill-like score. There are some funny sideline performances from Gidayu Great and Rakkyo Ide as Fatso and Baldy, two bikers who turn out to be the Abbott and Costello of soft-hearted slackers; Nezumi Mamura as a free-spirited drifter; Fumie Hosokawa as a relentlessly perky girl with a talent for juggling; and in the opening sequence, Kayoko Kishimoto as Kikujiro's take-no-prisoners wife. Kitano, however, elicits the most laughs if only for the film's central conceit that he gets away with his infantile gangster behavior. One would think the story would climax when Masao comes upon his mother, but Kitano confounds expectations with every new scene. The DVD really has no extras other than a couple of trailers not related to the film (not coincidentally, one is for Walter Salles' "Central Station" which has a similar story structure). I know this film has its detractors, especially among fans of Kitano's bloodier work, but I find it intriguingly ambiguous and thoroughly enjoyable.

Western audiences basically only know Beat Takeshi for his tough guy persona. Japanese audiences have seen many sides to him for a long time, and probably regard him as a comedian more than anything else. Maybe this is the reason why 'Kikujiro' isn't all that well known. Takeshi wrote and directed this movie as a follow up to his most celebrated work 'Hana-bi', but as it isn't a yakuza crime drama, it seems to have been largely overlooked. And that's a damn shame, because it's a very good movie, and anyone who enjoys Kitano's work will enjoy it. On paper the plot looks very Disney-like (grumpy old coot hits the road with an unhappy kid), but hey, this is Beat Takeshi, so what he does with it is always original and surprising. Much of the movie is playful, but then much of 'Sonatine' was too, only 'Kikujiro' doesn't mix that up with the orgy of violence you might expect from watching Kitano's better known movies. However it does have some dark moments that you would NEVER see in a Hollywood film dealing with similar "heart warming" subject matter, especially the "scary man" sequence featuring Akaji Maro, an actor you might recognise from Tarantino's 'Kill Bill'. I enjoyed 'Kikujiro' a lot, and the more Kitano movies I see, the more I think he is one of the most underrated directors working today.

Kikujiro is a movie with beautiful calmness that's a great diversity from the fast cut movies today. Takeshi Kitano proofs once and for all, that he's a master filmmaker that will forever be remembered. And even though he dislikes the fame that goes along with his more successful movies (Zatoichi), it's a shame he doesn't get more recognition for his films.

Kikujiro no natsu tells the story of a kid who decides to visit his mother that he never met. Through odd circumstances kikujiro (Kitano), though absolutely unqualified, is forced to lead the kid. But as we see only moments later the boy would be better off alone, as kikujiro's fondness of gambling and (very amusing) way to treat people makes the journey a funny and quite touching odyssee.

What stands out in this movie is the simple comedy. It shows Kitano started off as a comedian, and his dialogue and acting made me almost spill my milk more than a few times. This is certainly one of his best. A great film for a quiet, rainy sunday afternoon.

Maybe Takeshi Kitano remembered his travel with his father (Kikujiro), maybe he just wanted to show his father just like he wanted to see him. Anyway this film, despite of very few words and quite simple dialogue lines, shows so many emotions that after seeing it, sometimes laughing, sometimes sad and full of empathy, i have spent many days thinking of it. How can grown-up simple man witch is not quite good in relationships with people, can spent so much time with little boy. How so violent person can show beautiful world to sad little boy. Takeshi is one of my favorite actor/director/writer. I discovered him just by being bored with all-the-same Hollywood movies. Now, thanks to him, I'm truly in "love" with Asian movies. For those who liked this movie, and wants to see some good others, see the Hana-Bi (little violent, but even more deep) and Dolls (i was crying - one reason was i was touched, second - beauty of the colors and form).....For me its just one word - Outstanding.

I have heard a lot of people said that this film was not recognized as much as his other films. What a shame! When I saw the tittle of the film, I was surprised. The tittle is Kitano's father name.

In Kitano's biography, it is said that "Kitano's father was an alcoholic and would spend most of the money he earned on alcohol, and when he had been drinking, he would become violent and beat up both his wife and his kids. Eventually, Kikujiro left his family".

I know Kitano Takeshi made this film because he has been tired of violence/gangsters/life&death in his previous film, but what made him writing a story about his father-a man who abandoned his family when Kitano was young. If you read Kitano Takeshi's biography, you should see his childhood memory in Masao. Kikujiro ( in the film) is a corrupted person. But also in the film, Masao eventually respects and loves to play with that childish man who keeps smoking and shouting at people. Does Kitano himself desire a father too much, so he is willing to accept his father's bad habits as long as his father is still at his side.

It is not really a film I'd say, I feel like I am seeing the characters in real life. From the start, Masao has drawn Kikujiro in his diary. The ending is also the beginning. Kitano didn't make a happy ending nor a sad ending. Our 3 hours is just to see the beginning of a father-and-son relationship which would grows by the time. Remember, Masao just knew Kikujiro's name in the end of the film, and Kikujiro said: "Let's do it again some time". The cycle of life in "Kikujiro" go on forever. The feeling is too real. I have forgot that I were watching a movie. There is no simple words that can describe this movie completely, u have to watch it by yourself

From its hauntingly beautiful soundtrack by Joe Hisaishi to the wonderful characters who inhabit Takeshi Kitano's magical Japan - everything in this movie comes together to make this one of modern cinema's truly underrated masterpiece.

The story involves a petty thug, Kikujiro, who is coerced into accompanying a young boy, Masao, on his cross country journey to find his birth mother. Along the way they meet a whole host of characters. Some friendly, some mysterious, some quirky, some abrasive, but all of them refreshingly human.

A lesser writer or director would have settled for a quick dose of weirdness from the main characters' fellow wanderers, but Takeshi Kitano milks them for all of the depth and endearment that the too few minutes we are graced with their presence allows.

If you enjoyed the whimsical, go-nowhere feel of Lost in Translation, you will LOVE this movie. In my opinion Beat Takeshi's efforts blow Sophia Coppola's out of the water.

Nine out of ten.

Vignettes of childhood memories - possibly Kitano's own childhood experiences and impressions, "Kikujiro" is not like the deep or layered deliveries Kitano has in "Fireworks" (Hana-bi) 1997, or "Sonatine" 1994. There are no cops or graphic depictions of violence. There are still some gangster-type characters, but the encounters are simple, requiring no synthesis. Kitano's familiar elements and locales are present: drawings, vignettes, seaside, temple, and angels.

It's really a loving portrayal of one little boy, Masao's, summer, spent with this seemingly eccentric retired gangster "Mister" played by Kitano. We have a pair of comic bikers, a lone van traveler, an arguing truck driver, a fun juggling couple, prankish hitchhiking gags, and a rather extensive betting session at the (bicycle) races. There are occasions for sentimental tears, for instance, when "Mister" took a side trip to visit his own mother; but play is the key operative here. Even though the child appears to be a sulky non-smiling little boy most of the time, a boy will be a boy when it comes to play and open up to lightness of the heart.

If you're the hurrying kind, this film may not be for you. The film is at its own flow and pace. It's Masao's summer vacation adventures, and he's not in a hurry to go home. Joe Hisaishi's theme music for "Kikujiro" certainly is catchy and the score gave Kitano's film its rhythm and accents along this unlikely pair's journey - a grown man, who's become childlike once more while escorting Masao on his quest to fulfill the dream of seeing his mother. Does it matter whether Masao sees his mother or not? He gains a friend, Kikujiro.

Kudos to Sony Pictures Classics for their film distribution selections! At the recent Bravo cable channel's IFC (Independent Film Channel) tenth Gotham Awards, Catherine Deneuve presented the Industry Lifetime Achievement Award to the trio: Tom Bernard, Marcie Bloom, Michael Barker. It was noted: "This award is being created specifically for this year's ceremony to honor the trio for their 20 years of service as champions of independent filmmakers." Besides the theme from Woody Allen's "Sweet and Lowdown", Joe Hisaishi's music from "Kikujiro" was mostly used during the montage of the film clips. Films the trio has co-produced include the popular 1999 Tom Tykwer's "Run Lola Run" (German), Pedro Almodovar's 1999 triumph "All About My Mother" (Spanish), the Brazilian gem in 1998 "Central Station", Hal Hartley's 1997 saga "Henry Fool", John Sayles' 1996 hit "Lone Star", the 1995 French surprise "The City of Lost Children", and as far back as 1971 Vittorio De Sica's "The Garden of the Finzi-Contini".

Kikujiro (1999) is a tale about a little boy who so desperately wants to see his mother. He's accompanied on the trip by an old rascal named Kikujiro. The two make an unlikely pair of traveling companions. It's a sweet film and an interesting change of pace for Takeshi Kitano. He plays

with more of his comedic side in this picture. I enjoyed this movie very much. A fun trip down memory lane. Kitano shows that he can be humorous and light hearted as well as he is hard-boiled and stoic. Recommended.

A

If it wasn't for the perverted old man and the language, this would probably be a really good children's movie. Who knows, maybe it's intended to be...

Anyway, little Masao lives with his grandmother and has never met his parents: his father is dead and his mother ran away. He knows where his mother lives, however, and wants to go visit her over the Summer, so his kindly neighbor conscripts her profligate husband to take him. "Mister", as Masao calls him, doesn't make the ideal companion with his absurd behavior and his verbal abuse, but they go off to adventure anyways and learn to really connect with each other.

The power this film has lies mostly in its contemplative approach. It's very humorous and isn't really slow, but the camera does take the time to linger on locales, faces, and characters. For a few odd parts here and there, it's still really innocent and it seems to show that most people are kind-natured at heart, even when they project an aura of toughness and abusiveness. An interesting aside to analyze that theme would be the carnival scene, where people entrusted with family entertainment turn out to be violent cheaters, whereas even the heavy-metal biker folk are more than willing to go out of their way to help Masao.

The film itself is from Masao's perspective, as a childhood's slightly photographic memory comes into play, mixed a lot with colorful imagination. The humor is the best part, as it is at times really simple but holds itself up well. There's a lot to enjoy in this film.

--PolarisDiB

An extremely enjoyable movie!!! It focuses on a kid who lives with his grandmother, trying to go meet his real mother. Takishe is forced to accompany the child in order to ensure a safe trip. Luckily he screwed up & misbehaved in a wide assortment of hilarious situations.

Definitely recommended as an enjoyable movie to watch for everyone. There is enough unique visuals and interesting situations to easily entertain any first time viewer.

The dialog is also extremely light, no 10 minute conversations or useless stuff like that. So dont let the subtitles deter you from viewing the movie.

I think Kikujiro is mainly about loneliness.

Takeshi's character and the boy, Masao, seem really different on the surface. Takeshi's provokes people, is loud and rude. Masao is quiet and sad.

But they're really the same person: someone whose life is full of disappointment, abandonment. They both feel isolated, like no one could understand. They might be pitied, but no one could understand like they'd been there, like they'd lived that kind of life.

And when you get really lonely like that, I think it makes you bitter. The whole world continues to smile and sing its fortunes while your life seems to get worse and worse, less and less reason to stay living.

Masao is very withdrawn because of this. Over time, as he gets older, I can see him getting more and more bitter about it. Maybe Takeshi's character was like Masao at first, too. Lonely and sad. And then maybe he thought, "why should I be sad? All the world has brought me is misfortune. I should rather be angry!" and then started trying to provoke and anger people on purpose. Why should they be content, anyway? But, all the other characters they meet on the journey are like that, too. Isolates, people on the edge of society, people who might call themselves "countercultural" or something like that.

What I think is really important is how they change over the course of the movie. Like they might have the liberty to sit around all day, smoking and brooding and depressed. Masao is only a child, and all this kind of disappointment is new to him.

In a less realistic film maybe the characters would be, in their characteristic brooding way, like, "Eh, them's the breaks huh kid". In Kikujiro they're people. They can see how much he's like them, how much pain he's in. And they're so jaded because they're still hurting, too.

So they try and cheer him up, play games with him. Show him the kind of love he never got from anyone else in his life, that they never got. And it's so touching because they, especially Takeshi's character, start to see it's not so bad, not so hopeless. That everyone loves, and everyone cries, and just because their lives have been particularly worse than others doesn't mean they can't reach out to and come to an understanding with others.

The film's long takes sometimes feel kinda pointless, like they're just there because that's part of the director's style. But other times they really work, especially in the more emotional scenes. They help say more than any amount of ridiculous sad symphonic music could.

And the music, which is intermittent and plays on a single theme, is really good too. It doesn't feel like some kind of deliberately tragic cliché, but still adds a great amount to the mood of the movie and helped bring me to tears at some points.

Some negative reviews I've read call Kikujiro shallow or emotionally manipulative, but I can't see that at all. The whole thing is very human, and doesn't force any moral down your throat other than that, I guess, that you are not so alone. And it feels like it's coming from someone who has been alone, who has felt this incredible sadness, and also conquered it. And I think, that means more than I can really put into words.

This was an absolute delight from start to finish. Beat Takeshi made me laugh my socks off, and brought tears to my eyes when Kikujiro had poignant moments of insight and pathos. The chemistry between him and little Masao was pitch-perfect throughout the whole film, and the story itself built very naturally and beautifully.

My husband and a male friend of ours thought it would be too sappy for them (and opted for Mongol, which I had also rented). Thanks to Takeshi-san and his superb comic sensibility, I can now set their opinions straight.

As another user mentioned, this absolutely knocks a film like Lost in Translation out of the runnings. (Coppolla never seems to have grasped anything fully beyond Virgin Suicides anyway) There is something about this particular type of pacing in films that only Japanese directors can achieve. Any attempts by Westerners ends up as a mere pastiche.

I'm a big foreign/art film fan, so of course I try to stay open minded. But this Japanese weird stuff has got to stop.

The first 2/3rds of the movie are fairly interesting - the kid and a guy who's maybe him except older go in search for his mom.

Then for the last 1/3rd we get to see a string of scenes where weird people do random & silly things. It remind me of the Southpark PokeMon episode - Stan's parents watch the cartoon, and say "what the hell is this supposed to mean?", and Stan's dad says "I don't know but somehow now I want to own all of the toys."

I have this hypothesis, and this movie bears it out pretty well. Japanese are really into being formal, nice, and hiding their emotions. Instead of actually dealing with the crisis, the old man gives the kid an toy which he says will make everything better. And then he orchestrates a whole bunch of crazy stuff to help the kid forget about what just happened, and the kid ends up happy. I see this pattern in Japanese movies.

I'm no psychologist, but somehow this doesn't seem to a good way of dealing with reality. The good Chinese movies that make it over here are at least good and at times brilliant, but the Japanese just throw suspense of disbelief out the window. I give it a 3.

Takeshi Kitano plays Kikujiro, a combative, ne'er-do-well drifter who is badgered into taking a young boy, Masao, from Tokyo to Toyohashi to meet his mother--for the first time ever.

Someone with a little money and with what passes these days for common sense could get there in maybe an hour by bullet train. Kikujiro and Masao take the, umm, scenic route.

Anyone who has spent much time in Japan may be feeling "natsukashii" (nostalgia...well, not quite) well before the halfway point. What would, with a sensible adult guide, be an utterly forgettable day trip, is stretched out into a week or more, and becomes a complete summer vacation for Masao, with all that this entails in Japan--the summer festival, swimming in the ocean, the suika-wari game of blindfolded watermelon-bashing (with an amusing variation here), and so on. The "summer vacation" aspect is emphasized by the intertitles introducing each segment, which are presented as photos, complete with captions, that the boy might have taken on a real vacation.

The basic structure--the adult-child road trip--has been done before, of course (and a trailer for Central Station is included on the DVD). Some of the concerted attempts by the motley collection of adults to amuse Masao in the last quarter of the movie are rather too contrived. But this is, on the whole, a good-hearted movie (...somewhat rare for Kitano) that managed to make all of us smile.

...really, though, the title should have been "Masao no natsu", Masao's Summer Vacation.

I watched the great film because of my best English pen pal who I know by IMDb (knowing the pen pal is the luckiest thing happened in 2004 for me). In truth I am really grateful for IMDb because it supplies such a good place for movie buffs.

What I cherished most is the good relationship between people. It is the film reflected the most beautiful thing in the world with a quite funny way. One of unforgettable scenes is Kikujiro disguised himself as a blind man in order to stop a car to lift them. But it did not work. As the film carried on, my heart became warmer and warmer. I particularly like the lively music appeared in the film. The film worth watching more than once (actually I have watched it five times, feel still not enough) I have watched all movies directed by Takeshi Kitano who is my favorite). Scenes at the sea, Fireworks, Sonatine are also my favorites.

The best Japanese movie I ever watched. 9/10

This film sent me down memory lane to when I was a little boy with my little school-bag full of books and some snacks for break-time/recess-time.

But that was a long long time ago. I have grown since then, but my heart I have kept just as innocent as when I was little. This film teaches you a lot. It shows two characters at different stages of life. Kikujiro Takeda's life is over, he hasn't accomplished much he spends most of the time at the tracks and at bars and rarely at home. He is disgusted with the hand that life has dealt him. It can be safe to assume that in the film, Kikujiro has no children with his wife.

His wife, however is a ray of sunshine. She is a real sociable person and a quick talker as generally most Japanese women are.

Then we have a lonely young boy Masao of an undisclosed age maybe six or seven years old. Masao is living with his old grandmother. He has been abandoned by his mother, but hopes one day of reuniting.

One day receives a package, and in looking for a seal finds a photo of his long lost mother. He finds her address in Toyohashi, several hundred miles to the west. Leaving home to see his mother, he meets his grandmother's neighbors, Kikujiro and his wife. Kikujiro's wife forces Kikujiro to accompany Masao on a journey to see his mother, telling Masao's grandmother that they are going to the beach.

Their journey begins. Watch the film and see what happens next. I guarantee you this film will change your outlook of life, and you will not regret the time you have spent on it.

–Whats your name any way– –After a smile he says–Kikujiro–

The name was not that important till the end. He was with the boy and he was with us with his ridicule persona and big mouthed nature. By the time when he was about to leave, I was about to ask his name. Masao helped me. Takeshi Kitanos 1999 film is about a young boy searching for his estranged mother in his summer vacation. The journey towards his mother would have remain simple and he could have met his settled mother and his life still would have remain sad only if he had gone to meet his mother alone. Kikujiro went with him and shared a wild misadventure together which changed both of their lives. Kikujiro is an aggressive middle aged crook. He had a overruling wife and a sad mother who had been kept on a old peoples shelter. In his sub–conscious, he had kept enough suffering of his life, accumulating it into next level. Thats why he gets angry , put his foul mouthed conversation into anyone, It is just because he doesn't want to be happy and shows the cynical nature, just because he was suffering. In one of the scenes from the film, when he requests Fatso, the biker to help him get to the old house where he sees his mother sitting lonely on the table. He just watches her and fears to go near to her and spend a whole day in silence. This shows how he had lived his life in a suffocation of alienation. How he had utterly desired to be accepted among the civilized Japanese Society. When he was ignored and alienated from that part of good society, he became a rebel in the form of goons. He had idolized the Yakuza because it was the only way of Solace for him.

Masao and Kikujiro takes a wild road trip into a Japanese countryside where they meet Angel like strangers, who in real life were outcast and alienated people. They became friends and share a beautiful childish holiday together. They were all outcast in search of whole happiness. The real and civilized people were portrayed as demons and were treated in a cynical and unromantic nature. The unforgettable things about this film are its characters, like the lonely poet, baldy, Fatso and the soothing soundtrack from Joe Hisaishi. A great film worth watching. Two Thumbs Up! I was wondering why it was not considered for Palme D or at Cannes.

Nischal Poudyal

This movie is exactly what I was hoping that Takeshi Kitanos other film, A Scene At The Sea, would be like. Where "A Scene At The Sea" disappoints but holds potential, Kikujiro thrives and perfects the style. Kitano once again directs, writes, edits and acts in this, and he really shows off his skills as always. The film is really beautiful and is both funny and touching.

Takeshi Kitano plays a character that, at first seems similar to some of his other characters, but has a lot more heart. We see him smile way more than usual, and he is clearly a guy with a big heart, even though he perhaps doesn't want to show it. Yusuke Sekiguchi plays the young boy, and what's interesting is he hasn't starred in anything else. He plays his character really well and you really feel sympathetic for the kid. The connection between the two characters is also really great and believable. It's certainly a strength of the movie. All the other people they encounter on their trip are also great and fun to watch, which adds to the movie.

The film is interestingly shot and edited. Strange dream sequences are shown throughout and shots showing little details are often. It's these kinds of touches that Kitano adds which just enhance the film watching experience. The film also has a strong feeling of nostalgia, which a lot of Kitanos films seem to have. It's hard to explain, but it's there. I think the films biggest issue, however, is that it does feel quite long. It's about two hours, and it feels pretty long. Perhaps sections could have been edited down, such as the games being played towards the end. It could be because you kind of get a climax of their adventure, the main thing they are trying to accomplish, but it happens at the half way mark, meaning there is still and hour left. I think that kind of throws off the pace, which maybe wouldn't have been so bad if some later scenes were added in before that climax.

Overall this is a very touching and beautiful film. It shows Kitanos more sensitive side, and I think it is a very personal film for him.

The director/star/editor of "Kikujiro" (Takeshi Kitano) began with stage comedy, then became known for his hyper-violent (yet hypnotically artistic) gangster films, and is now known as a modern master of art cinema. As the story goes, some time in the late 1990s Kitano suffered a near-death motorcycle accident, and immediately following it he made this film... which many fans call his best.

His style is very photographic, meaning each shot is composed carefully like something you'd see on the wall of an art gallery. As such, he doesn't rely too heavily on motion or dialogue, and the effect can be both powerful and hilarious. If "a picture is worth a 1000 words", Takeshi Kitano milks every last syllable.

"Kikujiro" is a beautifully wicked road movie about a cute little kid looking for his momma. What gives it an edge is the fact that the kid gets paired up with the most unlikely "guardian" the world has ever known. Takeshi Kitano plays the guardian: a loud-mouthed, selfish, good-for-nothing troublemaker who decides to exploit the kid for all he's worth. You learn quickly that this is NOT a cutesy Disney flick. Instead, it's an edgy, slightly dark, yet thoroughly charming story about innocence in a not-so-innocent world. I could go on for ages about the clever symbolism and poetic themes, the complexity of Takeshi Kitano's character, the power of the film's final scene... but that's for you to figure out when you watch it, and on your 2nd, 3rd or 4th watch (I've seen this movie half a dozen times myself, and I can't wait to see it again).

The comedy is very quirky, and not everyone will get it. But if you do, you'll be howling in the aisles. It's somewhat surreal, and most of the humor stems from the idea that Kitano's character is so preposterous, and his actions so unrealistic, that you can't help but say WTF. It's even funnier if you realize that Japanese society is quite conservative, and the situations depicted in the movie would be downright scandalous. In that respect it could almost be classed as a surrealist comedy, alongside "Airplane!" and the "Naked Gun" movies. This may be a stretch, but I'd also compare it to the mockumentary masterpiece "This is Spinal Tap", or some of the other great Christopher Guest films.

One last thing I have to mention: The musical score is AMAZING. I've never heard an original score fit a film so perfectly as this. Composed by the great Joe Hisaishi, master of a thousand styles, the music for "Kikujiro" is simple, childlike and majestic at the same time. It's even more uplifting than the "Amelie" soundtrack.

The music, the photography, the gags and the story make this one of my favorite films of all time... definitely one I keep coming back to whenever I need a boost.

By one of these coincidences that make you wonder the very day the strongest earthquake in memory hit Japan, a Japanese film festival took place at the cinematheque in my city. 'Kikujiro' which I saw last night is a very special film in the Japanese cinema and in the filmography of Takeshi Kitano.

The fans of Kitano will notice that he is taking the character he usually plays in the gangster movies and creates here a failed version of it. He is dominated by a bad-mouthed wife. His walk is uncertain, closer to Chaplin's than to a well assured yakuza. He does have a scaring tattoo on his back but this becomes just the reason of the bad dreams of his little boy friend. When confronted with a gang of local gangsters he ends by being beaten in a situation in which his self from other movies would have killed his opponents in a fraction of time. All over the film he looks more like inadequate and unadapted to reality.

There is however much more in the character than this. The name - which we learn in the last scene - is the real name of Takeshi Kitano's father which is said to have shared at least some of the vices of the character in the movie like gambling. This is a personal film in which a lonely young kid gradually gains some kind of a father instead of the one he never had. The feelings of the little boy and his permanently sad look may have been inspired by the feelings of kid Takeshi and his disappointments in the relation with his father.

By the time Kitano made this movie the 'grumpy man - lonely kid' films (which had the classic in Chaplin's Vagabond) were making a comeback. In 1996 the Czech 'Kolya' had moved audiences and the Oscar jury with the story of the relation between the Czech musician and a Russian kid in occupied Czechoslovakia. Two years earlier Natalie Portman's first breakthrough was in 'Leon', where she befriended another gangster played by the wonderful Jean Reno. Kitano was not afraid to take over a popular theme which he developed adding to it other dimensions to the merge of mature and childish loneliness. The film speaks about in-adaptation and about the right to be different. It brings on screen characters to illustrate that different people can get together and create beauty from weird. The Poet and the two motorcyclists seem to come out from the Land of Oz in a very different road experience.

The style of the film is inspired by some of the Japanese popular culture techniques and form of art. The kid's dreams look like traditional theater scenes. A toy he receives and starts relating to it as an amulet looks like one of artist's Takashi Murakami gadgets. Acting is excellent and the music belongs to Joe Hisaishi, a composer famous in Japan and author of the soundtrack of more than 100 films. While you need to make a small effort to get into the mood and buy the transformation of the traditional gangster image in Kitano's films, 'Kikujiro' ends by being a very satisfying cinema experience.

Beat Takeshi is a talented man. Before Battle Royale, I had the chance to see this film on TV about a boy who wanted to see his father and then later befriends Beat (who is unnamed until the end of the movie) and a couple of bikers.

It's very entertaining to see how a grown man and a little boy can get into such mischief. Many of the things they do make you wanna laugh, of course, but you end up getting attached to the characters. And that's where things become intensely emotional from there. Still, it's fun to see an independent film that doesn't take itself so seriously.

What helps heightens the moment is the beautiful orchestrated score by Joe Hisaishi. The theme will more than likely leave you in tears by the time you have your fun adventures with Beat and Masao and see them...well, it's best to see for yourself.

A stellar film and a must watch.

Kikujiro no Natsu has gathered public and critical acclaim over the years, so it gives me no pleasure as a Kitano fan to state that the film is a flabby, undisciplined and self-indulgent episode in Kitano's film career. Kitano reverses his usual protagonist traits - the stoic, silent guy gives way to a volatile motor-mouth. The trademark graphic-schlock violence takes place off-screen. The tale is well-worn; the odd couple thrown together set out on a journey that changes both of their lives. Unfortunately, there is no evolution in the relationship to an emotional climax, just a few titters along the way.

The child character, Masao, is problematic. His quest is to meet his real mother, whose abandonment of him at an early age is never really explained, to Masao or the audience. At the moment where he sees his mother and her new family, it is not made clear what effect this has had on him. He cries, but does his past, no matter how traumatic, now make sense to him? Kikujiro sets out to distract the boy, and succeeds immediately. There is no progression in the boys recovery from the shock of seeing his mother for the first time - in fact, five minutes later, it is as if the whole episode had never happened. At the end, when Kikujiro says, "Let's look for your mother again," we do not know if the boy is aware of the lie or not. Strangely for this kind of movie, we do not care about the boy. Compare the child protagonists in Stand By Me, Leon, or Sixth Sense. This is not a cultural thing, as evidenced by the sympathetic portrayal of children abandoned by adults in Kore-eda's Nobody Knows or Iwai's Swallowtail Butterfly. In Kikujiro no Natsu, little Masao is more a totem pole for Kitano and his buddies to re-hash their slapstick comedy routines around.

The character of Kikujiro does not make sense either. The moment when he realises the parallels between his own life and Masao's is hackneyed in the extreme, a soliloquy to off- camera. His interaction with the boy is superficial, and the interaction of Kitano with the various quirky characters they encounter does not make any sense, either comedic or plot- driven. His visit to his mother in her Retirement Home merely ices the cake too sweetly.

The film seems to show more of the other Kitano, Beat the TV personality than Takeshi the filmmaker. The camping sequence with the obsequious bikers could come straight from one of his goofy game shows. The interaction with the farmer/banker at the bus stop is mildly funny if you realise the actor is Kitano's older brother, but just bizarre otherwise.

Some excellent cinematography and an outstanding score from Joe Hisaishi are two compensations in this disappointing, ill-advised film.

Kikujiro, the anti-hero, leads Masao, a child being raised by his grand-mother, on a series of misadventures en route to find the child's mother. Kikujiro is abusive to everyone they meet and tries to exploit every situation. He takes advantage of the hospitality and good will of those they meet. Kikujiro is a boor, an uneducated, but arrogant slob who has no apparent redeeming features. The trailers promised "Wise, Funny, Sad, Wonderful". I found none of these features in the hour and a half I watched it,before I gave up in disgust. It is impossible to understand how this was a Cannes selection.

We waited two l-o-n-g hours hoping to see an improvement on the lousy acting, poorly executed slapstick and ham-fisted attempts at "heart warming". Then we left. My only regret is that we didn't leave earlier. Actually, there's another regret -- that we went in in the first place.