Kikujiro
Directed, written by and starring Kitano ‘Beat’ Takeshi.
The story concerns a young boy Masao (Sekiguchi Yusuke) who lives with his grandmother in Tokyo. When summer holidays come and his friends all go off on vacation he is left lonely and at a loose end. He resolves to find his long-absent mother whom he knows only from photographs and a faraway address. An acquaintance of his grandmother finds him soon after he leaves home and, deciding that he cannot travel alone, instructs her husband Kikujiro (Kitano Takeshi) to accompany him. This is the pretext for the bulk of the film which, through a long series of Kikujiro’s reckless antics, sees an unlikely relationship develop between the over-serious child and childish adult.
Director Beat Takeshi seems to be aiming for humour and charm. While there is a good deal of humour (you may know the scene of them trying to stop a car for a lift by putting nails on the road), it is episodic. There is charm but it tends towards sentimentality. Kikujiro himself is not an appealing character: he is a self-indulgent wastrel, bullying and even violent.
The film’s premises are annoyingly implausible. Kikujiro’s wife obviously knows that her husband is completely irresponsible — why does she leave Masao in his charge? Masao was prepared to find his mother by himself — why does he stick with Kikujiro who obviously has no interest in helping him? Why do people fall in with Kikujiro’s plans and let him bully them round the way he does?
The film is entertaining but also rambling and a bit pointless.
Guy Olding
