Kikujiro

2000
Japan
122 min
12

Directed by: Takeshi Kitano
Written by: Takeshi Kitano
Cast: Beat Takeshi
Language: Japanese

Kitano plays the title role (interestingly, also his father's name), a small-time criminal who finds himself the surrogate father to nine-year-old Masao (Sekiguchi) when the boy sets off in search of the mother he has never met. In a departure from the gangster films his European reputation is built on, Kitano's sharply observed comic road movie shows the Japanese director/actor in more slapstick mode, giving his offbeat wit a freer rein.