Kikujiro, 1999

Following my opus review of Harold and Maude I continue my reviews of buddy movies and romcoms with weird ages gaps. If you've never seen a Takeshi Beat Takano movie this one might not be the one to start with - but if you like anything by Kim Ki Duk then you're already "fit" enough to squeeze 100% of the enjoyment out of this. If you want a run-up, go Hana-Bi, Sonatine and then this. If you're a fan of Haruki Murakami, particularly something like Kafka On The Shore or After The Quake, then this perfect. Some dude on Slate wrote this about the film: "As for Kikijuro, I thought its lugubriousness emphasized the essential sentimentality of the story rather than subverting it and found the formalism more exasperating than enthralling." Yeah! What he said! No not really, it's a sack of hairy balls. Yes this film is a little slow, yes it's quite like all Takano movies, but most of all it's got a cute kid, tension at the race course and a very juvenile yakuza doing as he pleases. It harks back to some of Takano's sketch stuff on TV and the soundtrack is wonderful. Not as good as Hana Bi and no beach jokes like Sonatine and not like any of the other movies - but good to watch with a young English speaking teenager who's interested in film and would like to watch something "foreign".

What did you think about this review?

Thank you for voting.

Like Dislike

Abuse report sent

Report abuse