Kikujirô no natsu (1999)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Takeshi Kitano

Writer:

Takeshi Kitano (written by)

Release Date:

26 May 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy

Plot:

Brash, loudmouthed and opportunistic, Kikujiro hardly seems the ideal companion for little Masao who...

Plot Keywords:

Travel | Road Movie | Road | Bicycle Race | Love

Awards:

4 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Takeshi Kitano	...	Kikujiro (as Beat Takeshi)
Yusuke Sekiguchi	...	Masao
Kayoko Kishimoto	...	Kikujiro's Wife
Yuuko Daike	...	Masao's Mother
Kazuko Yoshiyuki	...	Masao's Grandmother
Beat Kiyoshi	...	Man at Bus Stop
Great Gidayu	...	Biker / Fatso
Rakkyo Ide	...	Biker / Baldy
Nezumi Mamura	...	Traveling Man
Fumie Hosokawa	...	Juggler Girl
Akaji Maro	...	Scary Man
Daigaku Sekine	...	Yakuza Boss
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Makoto Inamiya	...	Yakuza Henchman
Hisahiko Murasawa	...	Yakuza Henchman
Fuyu Ooba	...	Hostess
Shûji Ôtsuki
Yoji Tanaka	...	Yakuza Henchman

Also Known As:

Kikujiro (Japan) (short title)
Kikujiro no natsu (Japan: English title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for a threatening incident.

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:18+ (Ontario) | South Korea:All | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-11 (VET id: 101474) | France:U | Hong Kong:IIA | New Zealand:M | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Bandai Visual Company

Quotes:

Kikujiro: Hey, Baldy, you didn't have to take everything off jackass!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Jam session - Kikujiro no natsu koshiki kaizokuban (1999)

Soundtrack:

Summer

Takeshi Kitano's most underrated movie.

Western audiences basically only know Beat Takeshi for his tough guy persona. Japanese audiences have seen many sides to him for a long time, and probably regard him as a comedian more than anything else. Maybe this is the reason why 'Kikujiro' isn't all that well known. Takeshi wrote and directed this movie as a follow up to his most celebrated work 'Hana-bi', but as it isn't a yakuza crime drama, it seems to have been largely overlooked. And that's a damn shame, because it's a very good movie, and anyone who enjoys Kitano's work will enjoy it. On paper the plot looks very Disney-like (grumpy old coot hits the road with an unhappy kid), but hey, this is Beat Takeshi, so what he does with it is always original and surprising. Much of the movie is playful, but then much of 'Sonatine' was too, only 'Kikujiro' doesn't mix that up with the orgy of violence you might expect from watching Kitano's better known movies. However it does have some dark moments that you would NEVER see in a Hollywood film dealing with similar "heart warming" subject matter, especially the "scary man" sequence featuring Akaji Maro, an actor you might recognise from Tarantino's 'Kill Bill'. I enjoyed 'Kikujiro' a lot, and the more Kitano movies I see, the more I think he is one of the most underrated directors working today.