Kikujiro (1999)

The final part of the more personal trilogy of films that Takeshi Kitano made in the latter half of the Nineties which all feature images of angels, “Kikujiro” is the most blatant in its use of angelic imagery, and continued his more introspective approach. Named after his father, Kitano plays the titular character in what is a break from his more hard-boiled roles, seeing him return to his roots as a comedian in his most comedic lead role.

Masao (Yusuke Sekiguchi) is looking forward to summer, but that means that school and sports clubs are closed and his friends are going away, leaving him with no one to spend his days with. Living with his grandmother (Kazuko Yoshiyuki) as his mother (Yuko Daike) has moved away for work, he wants to see his her to make his summer. The only available person to escort young Masao on his journey though is his neighbour’s (Kayoko Kishimoto) bum of a husband Kikujiro (Kitano, though much more in the vein of ‘Beat’ Takeshi).

With money in their hands, well, Kikijiro’s, they head to the race track, with most of it lost on keirin races in the first two days. They then bumble along, hitchhiking and stealing their way across the country to find his mother’s new house. But once there, Kikujiro sees that Masao has a lot in common with him as an abandoned child. He then sees it as his duty to make sure Masao has as entertaining and memorable a journey home as he can, with some colourful characters along the way.

A Japanese road movie, this can come with the obvious tagline of “the boy who went looking for his mother, but found a father.” Something of a tribute to his father, along with the previous “Kids Return” and “Hana-bi”, this is a film with more of an air of responsibility, rather than the more manic, suicidal characters past. Kikujiro switches from a useless, gambling addict to a more dedicated father figure when empathy enters his consciousness. He can be a better person if he tries and has the right motivation to do so.

Despite its sad initial premise, therefore, this is one of Kitano’s more positive works in terms of its outlook, with the playful elements he always included furthered beyond those of “Sonatine” in that they are done out of sheer joy and friendship, rather than waiting to die. The characters met along the way all perform theatrics to entertain – or sometimes terrify – Masao, with Kitano playing around with much of the cast, notably the biker duo of The Great Gidayu and Rakkyo Ide and laidback An-chan (Nezumi Imamura).

This does, however, mean that “Kikujiro” again has something of a boys’ club feel about it, with female characters again on the periphery, or indeed made to be the villain. Again, they are often without a name – though many in this film are – and Masao’s mother is portrayed as having abandoned him, but we are never given further context as to how and why this came about. Kikujiro is offered redemption, but others are not.

Following the success of “Hana-bi” internationally, there is an attempt to be more cinematic in places here, particularly the cinematography. Katsumi Yanagijima moves the camera around the scene, with dolly shots often employed. And these are well used throughout, though again Kitano’s editing is masterful in its comedy. He places scenes of violence off-camera and cuts are used to comedic effect as well as any other Kitano film. And with Kikujiro a bumbling clumsy character, there is plenty of opportunity to make use of this skill.

Indeed, Kikujiro is Kitano’s most fully-formed character, with much more dialogue than usually afforded, with fast-delivered lines flying out of his mouth. The scenes at the keirin racetrack are Kitano in his element, racing through his monologues to Masao, as his editing shows his repeated failures. Clearly nostalgic for his comedy years, he even recruits his old partner from the Two Beats’ days, trading lines with ‘Beat’ Kiyoshi while they wait for a bus. As an actor, it is one of his better performances in his oeuvre.

Alongside more blatant comedy are other attempts to make “Kikujiro” a more mainstream offering: telling the story from Masao’s perspective via a summer diary; dream sequences; and some minor special effects, with the angel charm rising up to the sky. Joe Hisaishi’s soundtrack is an all-round more upbeat affair, driven by the main track “Summer”.

His happiest film, “KIkujiro” feels like something of a finale for his first decade as a director, and with the previous two films as his more introspective works, it felt like Kitano had put some of his inner-demons to bed. But with happiness reached, it also felt like the start of coming down from the mountain’s peak.