Kikujiro

Rating:
Summary: Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!
Review: This was funny funny funny!! Hard to believe that such a film was made by director known in the states for more "hard-hitting" action films. For some, it will seem a little long and a tad slow, however, I thought the dialog alone negated those "faults". It has a sort of "Life is Beautiful" feel to it and Kitano tries to "paint" his scenes rather than just film them. Not everyone's cup of tea but they should at least take a sip!!

Rating:
Summary: Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!
Review: This was funny funny funny!! Hard to believe that such a film was made by director known in the states for more "hard-hitting" action films. For some, it will seem a little long and a tad slow, however, I thought the dialog alone negated those "faults". It has a sort of "Life is Beautiful" feel to it and Kitano tries to "paint" his scenes rather than just film them. Not everyone's cup of tea but they should at least take a sip!!

Rating:
Summary: Yakusa undone
Review: Those of you who are used to Takeshi Kitano movies may be in for a surprise with this one. The first time I watched this movie I was engulfed in a waterfall of emotions from falling off my couch comedy to eye watering sadness. This movie gives the audience a diffrent look at Japans infamous Yakusa. We can come to understand the circumstance that may lead a child to grow up and become a member of the Yakusa. With out giving away the movie I ask you all to pay careful attention to the similarities between the two main characters in this movie as this may clue you in to the deeper meaning of this movie. A must see...absolutely wonderful.

Rating:
Summary: a movie with a soul
Review: Unlike other viewers, this is my first Takeshi Kitano film. This is far from a family film, though the topic matter is light, and happy, and childlike, there are dark and mature themes that undercurrent the movie. If anything, this film is like a return to innocence. The primary character, a gangster-yakuza type takes under his wing a young boy, w/ a promise to deliver him safely to visit his mother on the other side of Japan. What makes the film interesting is the hero is a flawed hero, the first thing he does is spend all the money that was given to him to help pay for thier fare, on the racetrack... what results for the rest of the film is a vagabond 'road trip' journey as he creatively helps them find thier way to the boy's mother and back, using every trick he knows from his criminal/vagabond existence. Along the way, the boy's innocence perhaps reminds himself of something lost a long time ago, and you are along not just on a physical journey, but a spiritual one as well; as the hero transforms from con-man/reluctant guardian to a true guardian-angel figure for the boy.
Another thing that is lush, is the cinemetography, Almost every other scene seems like an illustration from a book, or a painting. The cenimetography is purposefully wide-scope, and the composition both w/ lighting and subject matter often frame the gangster and the boy in still-shots that seem like overlush realistic impressionistic paintings. It's harder to describe w/ words, but beleive me, the visual impact of the film is something you rarely experience, and done so, as much as it was done throughout the film. Whereas most movies use these grandiouse shots as sorta expository intros, the director places these shots throughout thier journey and involves the action and dialogue w/in it as well.
Lastly, the music is as much a character, and vivid one as the rest of the live human cast. Apparently this is the same composer who did the musical score for Princess Momonoke, and you'll hear a similiar trademark mixture of both western and uniquely japanese sensibilities. His composition however succeeds in capturing and punctuating the various moods and undercurrents of the film, as if you could hear the spiritplay between the gangster-thug and his ward as they wander on this adventure.
Overall, Kikujiro is unlike any other film I've ever watched, it is spiritual and deepwrought w/ meaning but in the uniquely Japanese-zen methodology, where you feel that you've experianced something profound, but it is as enigmatic as a passing breeze. The film on just a non-intellectual level is thoroughly enjoyable, and will leave you in awe, atleast that is my experience.

Rating:
Summary: Kikujiro
Review: When I first looked at Kikujiro in a Blockbuster Video Store, I couldn't expect too much from it, and I wasn't very enthusiastic. Even when i began to watch it, it was somewhat gloomy. But then as I progressed through the movie I absolutely loved it. This bittersweet movie captures the real power of life and goes deeper than to be expected by a director renowned for his gangster movies. The sad drama of it and the hilarity on the outside really do make this an instant classic. Now if it was only released more widespread in the US, we'd be golden.

Rating:
Summary: Kikujiro is a heartwarming magical treat!
Review: With the deaths of Akira Kurosawa and Juzo Itami, I wondered if there was anybody who could take their place. The answer came in the form of Takeshi Kitano's 1999 release, Kikujiro. Funny, tender, heartbreaking, full of hope are a few adjectives I'd use to describe this brilliant movie.

The story involves Masao, a sad-faced Tokyo boy who lives with his grandmother. With his best friend going away to the sea, he only has a long lonely summer ahead of him.

After finding a snap of his mother, along with an address in Toyohashi, Masao wants to go visit her. Thanks to a married couple who are friends of his grandmother, he gets his wish. As the woman says, "Someone must accompany you."

The next shot shows exactly who that somebody is; it is her husband, Kikujiro, and he's not too thrilled. Kikujiro, played by Takeshi Kitano, is an unemployed former small-time yakuza, as evidenced by a horrifying tattoo on his back. He is selfish, lacking in common sense, financially irresponsible, bullying and insulting people into getting his own way.

Poor Masao has to suffer through Kikujiro's bullying, not only toward him but to those they encounter. Kikujiro gambles away all their travelling money at the bike races. His reactions and outbursts after each race result are simply funny.

A constant problem is getting a ride to Toyohashi, and Kitano injects a comic element in their hapless attempts. Kikujiro even bullies a hotel desk attendant to abandon his duties and drive them, which he does to a truck stop. There, he picks a fight with a trucker disgruntled by his abruptness. Kikujiro not only smashes his driver's side truck window with a rock but beats him with a stick(!) Kikujiro's attempts to finagle a ride playing a blind man come to naught. One driver refuses, to which Kikujiro insults him and in the process, blows his cover. The other driver simply hits him without stopping. Another time, they try to get a car by placing a nail in the middle of the road. The car's tire blows out and careens down an embankment, to which the pair leg it down the highway. The next scene, they are in a car, to which Masao tells his guardian how better it is to simply ask, to which Kikujiro says, "Shut up, smartass."

Of the strangers whom they encounter, the Travelling Man, an idealistic poet who travels across Japan singing songs and reading poetry, is the nicest of the bunch, and not only is it he who takes them to Toyohashi but also suggests they camp at a beach for a few days.

Second place goes to a teenage girl, who persuades her boyfriend to take the pair at least partway. She masterfully juggles oranges and has her boyfriend imitate a coin-op toy that does a hip-hop dance. Kitano adds mechanical sound effects during his performance.

The scene where Masao and Kikujiro reach Toyohashi and discover what has happened to Masao's mother is simply heart wrenching. Not as heartbreaking is when Kikujiro goes to where his own mother resides, but it is the first scene where Kikujiro softens towards the boy. When he suggests they go back home, Masao holds his hand for the first time.

Kikujiro's bullying ways finally catch up to him at a fair, where the local yakuza beat him up. He apologizes to Masao for causing trouble, and from here, his transformation is complete.

Two bikers who join Masao, Kikujiro, and the Travelling Man at the beach, are actually pussycats, despite the Nazi helmets worn by the pair and the Danzig III T-shirt worn by the fat biker. Kikujiro, having met them earlier after finding out about Masao's mother, bullies the fat one into giving him an angel bell charm. He gives the said charm to Masao as a consolation gift and tells him that an angel will come if he rings the bell. Masao rings the bell, to no avail. Well, at least for a while, anyway.

The few days spent at the beach to entertain Masao form the best moments of the movie. There, Kikujiro displays his talent as a promoter or show organizer. His gruffness and insults return at times, but overall, he has fun. Among his best devised schemes involve placing a hollowed watermelon rind over the fat biker and having Masao strike him on the head. Another is the Naked Statues game, a strip version of America's "Green Light/Red Light." The skinnier biker, nicknamed Baldy, really enjoys himself, playing an Indian, an octopus man, and a space alien. The fat biker, Fatso, has the misfortune of falling into a pit used by farmers for depositing their animal waste for future fertilizer. The others laugh and run away from their smelly companion.

One of the most interesting things about foreign movies is how the translations come across. Two scenes in particular: when the pervert, in response to Kikujiro's question of what happens after he pulls down his pants, the subtitles say "You know." I was born in Japan and understand some Japanese. What the pervert actually said was "I (...) it." The subtitles as presented is more tasteful and diplomatic.

Joe Hisashi's wonderful piano score is simply beautiful, and some parts really softened me.

Masao discovers his guardian's name until the final scene, cementing the special bond formed during their travels together.

If Kikujiro is a sign of the new Takeshi Kitano, let's have more of it!