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movie review - Kikujiro no natsu

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

This is a very odd Japanese film about a boy who sets out to visit his estranged mother. He's been brought up to this point in his brief life by his maternal grandmother, but takes it upon himself to find his actual mother when he comes across a photo of her while scrounging for cash to pay a delivery man. His first move - one that renders the rest of the trip on a long, winding, and bizarre route - is to contact an old neighbour to ask for her help. Her idea of help is to send along her husband.

Unfortunately, her husband (played by Takeshi "Beat" Kitano, who usually plays gangsters and renegade cops, and who cuts a frightening figure throughout) is a bit of a wildman, and immediately gambles away their train fare. He then goes on to involve himself in a series of ridiculous escapades in an impulsive fashion that suggests that not all of the man's pistons are firing in harmony. Eventually, he learns of the kid's actual quest, and begins to feel for the lad. It's the man's slow awakening from a life of near madness that carries the film to its many-splendoured conclusion.

It's a strange film, but worth a look (even if you have to wait for any of it to make sense).

Recommended.