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Kikujiro
EMAILPRINTSony Pictures Classics

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 25 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 10 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy
Written by: Takeshi Kitano
Directed by: Takeshi Kitano
Release Date:
Theatrical: May 26, 2000
DVD: December 12, 2000
Running Time: 121 minutes, Color
Origin: Japan
Language(s): Japanese (with English subtitles)
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for threatening incident
Starring Great Gidayu, Fumie Hosokawa, and Rakkyo Ide
It's summer and nine-year old Masao (Sekiguchi) has no one to play with. He decides to go in search of the mother he has never met. Kikujiro (Takeshi), a brash, loudmouthed and irresponsible adult, agrees to accompany him on his quest. Ultimately, the two of them end up at a destination that neither of them could have imagined. (Sony Pictures Classics)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Brother Dolls The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
A heart-tugger made totally irresistible because of the combination of Kitano's wry, sly sense of humor and his rigorous detachment.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan
It is off-putting at first, then refreshing, then downright touching. In short, it works.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
An experimental feature that keeps shooting off its ideas like an endless row of skyrockets, Kikujiro ultimately conveys this grief with such sustained intensity that it can only leave a scorched path of devastation in its aftermath.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
This genial, lyrical little movie seems guaranteed to broaden Kitano's fan base in the United States.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Andy Klein
In short, the film is emotional, perhaps even sentimental, but it strenuously avoids the sort of blatant manipulation that marks cheap sentimentality.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
Much of this movie is very funny, it has some genuinely endearing moments.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Desmond Ryan
No one has done the journey quite like Takeshi Kitano in Kikujiro
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday
Provides an arresting journey through the Japanese countryside and culture.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham
The comic drama is refreshingly anti- sentimental but will break your heart anyway.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
If the movie finally doesn't work as well as it should, it may be because the material isn't a good fit for Kitano's hard-edged underlying style.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
When Kikijuro goes soft, the film falls apart, with him becoming a slapstick clown, mugging shamelessly to entertain Masao and the audience.
Read Full Review >Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson
The film has a standard trajectory, but the details are unpredictable: Kitano fluctuates between goofy pratfalls. . . and elliptical pathos.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Examiner G.Allen Johnson
With a few quiet, moving scenes and a lovely ending, the film betrays an artist's touch, no matter how hard Kitano tries to make it look easy.
Read Full Review >USA Today Mike Clark
It's tough to think of another child-adult pairing in a long screen tradition with so little emotional kick.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Beautiful camerawork, some interesting scenes, but extraordinarily slow.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Kitano's first major comedy is loose and likable.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Not only is Kikujiro sweet and funny, it is, no doubt, Kitano's experimental "art film."
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
Appears to be a complete about-face for Kitano, and yet it's unmistakably his, both stylistically (the film is gorgeous to look at) and thematically.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ella Taylor
Ends up a flabby vehicle for the most banal of road-movie messages: The journey's the thing; the goal inevitably disappoints.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Dana Stevens
Dreamy touches can't compensate for the film's main flaw, which is that the relationship between the two main characters never really develops.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Jay Carr
Even allowing for differences in national styles, Kikujiro sprawls and stumbles. It's a road movie that turns into its own detour.
Read Full Review >Village Voice J. Hoberman
An overtly saccharine fairy tale of abandonment that is subverted by its own comic brutality. It's oddly affecting...which is to say, sad in a way that its maker might not have intended.
Read Full Review >Film.com Robert Horton
It does... apply Kitano's black-comic style to a different setting, and individual scenes sparkle with unexpected jokes, twists, and occasional cruelties.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
The film isn't just bad; it's a barely coherent, inert mess -- a heart-tugger for voidoids.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 10 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
James M. gave it a10:
Takeshi Kitano, one of the worlds greatest direcotrs, made this amazing film to almost no critical attention. How this is possible I have no idea. This was a magnificent, funny, moving, incredible film that is perfect for when you're feeling down.
James M gave it a10:
Takeshi Kitano, one of the worlds greatest direcotrs, made this amazing film to almost no critical attention. How this is possible I have no idea. This was a magnificent, funny, moving, incredible film that is perfect for when you're feeling down. 10/10
Yoon Min C. gave it a 7:
Beat Takeshi is both a wildman iconoclast and a disciplined, even stern, stylist. His gangster/crime films are often considered groundbreaking classics. Here, Takeshi goes for sweet comedy and the timing is off most of the time, and the gags aren't much to begin with. But, the central story of a boorish man finding a measure of humanity by caring for an abandoned child in search of his mother is both convincing and ulimately moving. It fails as comedy but works as drama about innocence lost and compassion discovered.
J. Negley gave it a 10:
A a breath of fresh air from Hollywood's smog. Clever and witty, funny and heart warming. With a fantastic soundtrack behind it, Kikujiro is an excellent movie to watch when you need to feel good.
Amanda gave it a 5:
There are quite a few chuckle-worthy parts, but the movie was slow and lost my interest in the middle.
