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.

Takeshi Kitano is a very well known name for me and I'm a big fan of his work however thinking in the subject I have seen only 3 films, 2 of them directed by him (Kids Return and Brother) and the other just with him as actor (Battle Royale). Then I have the world of Kitano still to discover and certainly I really liked those 3 films and now "Kikujiro" was not the exception. It is one of the most unique yakuza films I have seen if you can consider it a yakuza film just because the character Kikujiro (Kitano) was a yakuza. He is a great and strange character, he can be a total a****** and a good friend and thanks to Masao (Yusuke Sekiguchi) we are going to watch both sides of Kikujiro. Masao is the protagonist of the film, a young boy who lives only with his grandmother, they used to be neighbours of Kikujiro and his wife. Summer arrives so school and other activities are over then Masao will be alone. His best friend is going out, everybody from his soccer practices is also on vacations and his grandmother works. But then Masao thinks again in his mother, who according to his grandmother is working far for him, and now he has an address. For Masao's fortune Kikujiro and his wife found him when some teenagers were robbing him just when he was going to see his mother. The wife of Kikujiro gave them money, she felt sorry for the young boy and now her husband is taking the young boy to see his mother. Here begins the unique journey."Kikujiro" is a very strange, touching, sad and funny film, certainly is hard to know what's next in the journey of Masao and Kikujiro and I just loved that. Just the journey started you watch them at the cycle track. Kikujiro is betting and at once Masao said to him the winner combination so they returned just to lose money, Masao never said another winner combination. If that wasn't enough to complicate the journey, Kikujiro's criminal actions will help to make things a little more complicated. A fine scene to can define Kikujiro is when they are inside a taxi, the taxi driver stops to pee or something but he doesn't stop the taximeter action that makes Kikujiro angry enough to steal the taxi, not a single minute after the taxi driver went outside, just to be without a car by the next morning. Things are more difficult for both Masao and Kikujiro after they are at a very expensive hotel, after that they are without any money trying to find someone who drives them to their destination, now Masao is seeing how strange is Kikujiro but also becoming a friend. This unique journey have many moments I loved, one of them reminds me the Charles Chaplin short film "The Immigrant" (at a bus stop Kikujiro steals food from a man, both Kikujiro and Masao are very hungry but Kikujiro gives -apparently- all the food to the young boy and says so him something like "don't worry, adults must make sacrifices for the little ones". Then Kikujiro goes to the back of the bust stop to pee but he went there just to eat his part of the food!), some of them are extremely funny (Kikujiro trying to imitate a trick with oranges that a woman made, for example), some of them are difficult moments, moving moments, sad moments and magical moments. Happened what we could expect was going to happen with the mother of Masao (at one point we see how Masao and Kikujiro shared a similar situation, both were very close t their mothers but at the same time both were very far from them) but Kikujiro brings the magical moments, both are now there to really help the other and at one point Kikujiro will join other adults, that they and we meet before, and they will become kids and together with Masao they will share fun moments. Finally, I loved this Kitano film, for me is a near masterpiece that can surprise you. Maybe your girlfriend doesn't liked the film Brother or the film Battle Royale but believe me, she will love this one.

What a bittersweet, beautiful movie! Takeshi Kitano (who writes and directs) plays a deadbeat adult who agrees to take little Masao on a cross-country summer trip to meet his estranged mother. What ensues is tragic, comedic and very poignant. The cast of characters are all rather unique and fun to watch, and the interplay between Kitano's character and the young boy is both delightful and upsetting.The film's events are divided up and introduced as events in Masao's summer diary. As he did in Hana-bi, Kitano uses his own artwork. Here his work is masquerading as the drawings done by Masao. The artwork is charming, colorful, unacademic yet unique. The drawn-out quiet pacing and environmental resonance found in Kitano's Yakuza flicks are also found here, used to illustrate the absolutely pathetic state the characters (caused by Kitano's character) find themselves in. When there is music it is charming and melodic, if simple, and never grates or becomes too saccharine. Hee hee, it's funny though -- the main theme sounds a little bit like "Chariots of Fire". And what was up with that weird dream sequence???I find Kitano's body of work to be pretty strong, and it's nice to see what a diverse entertainer and film-maker he is. This movie, Hana-bi and his recent Zatoichi incarnation are all such different movies, but they're all equally commendable. This one is pretty cool -- the first Kitano movie that usurps an adult film genre, though I would still say the message and pacing make it more appropriate for older viewers.

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