Among the many great films released in Japan, the one that the public is most looking forward to is “Kikujiro” by Takeshi Kitano.
“Kikujiro” tells the story of Masao Sugiyama, a third grade boy who lost his father and lived with his grandmother since childhood.
In order to find her mother, Masao Sugiyama was assisted by his neighbor’s aunt and his idle husband Kikujiro (Beat Takeshi) during the summer vacation.
They embarked on a warm summer journey full of adventures.
“Kikujiro” has a lively rhythm and a smooth plot.
The audience watched silently, from the first second to the last second of the movie, without any impatience.
The audience did not feel tired of watching the movie for two hours at all.
The movie “Kikujiro” started with light Canon piano music.
A child is running on the road. This child named Masao Sugiyama goes to school and eats alone every day.
My father died in a car accident, and my mother left him and went to another city.
He has a grandmother who is capable and kind. The life of his grandparents is very simple, and her life is very regular.
One day Masao Sugiyama turned to his mother’s picture, and he decided to go to her mother.
Just when Masao Sugiyama was about to secretly go on the road alone, he was discovered by his neighbor’s aunt.
The kind-hearted neighbour and aunt arranged for Kikujiro, her idle husband, to accompany Masao Sugiyama this summer on a trip to find her mother.
This is a journey that seems to find family affection, but it is also a journey of warmth and healing between the young boy Masao Sugiyama and the uncle Kikujiro.
As there is a saying: “A happy childhood can heal a lifetime, but an unfortunate childhood needs a lifetime to heal.”
Kikujiro is the latter.
When two people with similar childhood experiences meet together.
This summer is no longer the hot summer breeze, biting mosquitoes, even the wind becomes warm in Joe Hisaishi’s music.
Kikujiro is idle and savage, he is more like the villain in life.
But behind the appearance is also the lack of maternal love.
At the same time, they have completed their own growth during the journey, and Kikujiro’s behavior is quite naive.
He pretended to be blind to block the car, put nails to block the car, etc. It seemed that only children could do it.
He is contaminated with the bad habits of society and protects himself in this way.
Kikujiro didn’t do evil all the way, but when he saw Masao Sugiyama’s mother had a new family.
Suddenly, the man who had no good at all wanted to appease Masao Sugiyama, so he asked for a small bell.
Then Kikujiro lied that his mother had moved and left him the bell.
Kikujiro told Masao Sugiyama that as long as he shakes the bell, the angel will come to help him.
Never seen the gentleness of a gangster, never seen such a gentle gangster.
This comment really hit the nail on the head!
Masao Sugiyama ran happily, and he finally got the happiness he deserved in his childhood.
They heal each other in this summer with the sea and the starry sky.
This trip was not only from Masao Sugiyama, but also from Uncle Kikujiro.
In the end, Kikujiro also completed his journey of regaining family affection.
Those who really understand Takeshi Kitano know that his movies have cast his life experience and his inner regrets.
When you calm down and watch it, you will find Takeshi Kitano’s movie is deeper than any text.
Takeshi Kitano is an extreme director. His works do not express Japanese violent aesthetics, such as “Sonachine”.
It is to express a moment of silence, such as “Kikujiro”.
In the movie “Kikujiro”, the cool old director Takeshi Kitano, who is good at making gangster movies, personally plays the role of a boyish uncle who has done nothing but has a childlike heart.
Takeshi Kitano’s life is very ordinary and very special.
The film “Kikujiro” is “forgiveness and self-salvation for father”.
It is Takeshi Kitano who is commemorating his past and his father, making up for the regrets of life.
In fact, Kikujiro in the film is the name of Takeshi Kitano’s own father.
Takeshi Kitano wrote and directed and acted as his father in his own movie.
At the same time, he turned into the child named Masao Sugiyama, enjoying the warmth of his father’s love.
Although “Kikujiro” is also irritable and impatient, the background color is finally warm.
It is like the fresh, bright and gentle summer of 1999.
But Takeshi Kitano also talked about the only good memory of his father, when he took himself to Enoshima to see the sea when he was a child.
This was a moment when he truly shared affection and warmth with his father.
“The sea” is also the most important environmental element, and it frequently appears in his movies.
The tenderness condensed by “Kikujiro” is no longer the superficial tenderness.
Rather, it is an endless length that is mixed with roughness, bleakness, and internalization.
Of course we are unlikely to have a summer like Kikujiro.
But we have a lot of opportunities to create a summer that we yearn for.
