Kikujiro Review
by "Steve Rhodes" (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)May 5th, 2000
KIKUJIRO
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2000 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): **
Takeshi Kitano, famous for his Dirty Harry style parts in Japanese crime dramas such as FIREWORKS, tries a change of pace in the corny comedy KIKUJIRO, in which he stars, directs, writes and edits. (His traditionally violent character, however, seems just below the surface. Although he spends most of the story acting like a corked volcano, he does explode once, beating an old man to a pulp in order to teach him a lesson.)
Like a B-movie for kids, the comedy never got a laugh from this critic, but it was certainly cheesy enough for my audience, filled with high school students. They laughed loudly, especially at its shamelessly slapstick concluding segment.
Essentially a road picture, KIKUJIRO is divided into chapters introduced by cutesy, moving postcards with titles such as "Mister Played with Me." The story concerns a sad and lonely, latchkey 9-year-old, Masao (Yusuke Sekiguchi), who lives with his working grandmother. She tells him that his father is dead and his mother lives far away. Masao, who rarely smiles or talks, wants to find his mother. His older friend, Kikujiro Takeda (Takeshi Kitano), decides to take him to locate his mother. They hitch a series of rides, most of which end up dumping them along the highway in the middle of nowhere.
Along the way, Kikujiro mugs constantly, trying to get a laugh out of the boy and us. In order to stop a car to catch a ride, Kikujiro makes like a blind man who just failed a suicide attempt by overdosing on caffeine. As he bounces into objects, and they into him, he finally gets a car to stop. When he forgets that he can't see -- one of the film's many recycled jokes -- the truck driver leaves them stranded.
Continuing in the replay of old comedy routines, Kikujiro tries without success to juggle three oranges. Guess what? He can keep two going. Funny, huh?
The one complete satisfying part of the production is Jô Hisaishi's music. Playfully happy, it suggests a more light-hearted and better movie than KIKUJIRO.
The movie's most troubling scene concerns an incidence of pedophilia. An old man in a dark park lures Masao into the bushes in order to have oral sex with him. As the man kneels in front of Masao, pulling down his underwear, Kikujiro saves the little boy. The entire episode, even if the movie tries to make it humorous, has no business being there. I found this scene sickening and in bad taste. In contrast, the rest of the film had the taste of leftover food, badly in need of some fresh seasoning,
KIKUJIRO runs 1:56. The film is in Japanese with English subtitles. It is rated PG-13 for a threatening incident and would be acceptable for older teenagers.
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