Kikujiro
| Kikujiro | |
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Japanese poster
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| Directed by | Takeshi Kitano |
| Produced by |
Shinji Komiya Masayuki Mori Takio Yoshida |
| Written by | Takeshi Kitano |
| Starring | Beat Takeshi |
| Music by | Joe Hisaishi |
| Cinematography | Katsumi Yanagishima |
| Edited by | Takeshi Kitano |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by |
Japan: Nippon Herald Films Office Kitano United States: Sony Pictures Classics |
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Release date
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Running time
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121 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Kikujiro's Summer | |
|---|---|
Milan Records cover
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| Soundtrack album by Joe Hisaishi | |
| Released | 26 May 1999 |
| Genre | Stage & screen |
| Label |
Milan Records 73138 35911-2 Polydor POCH 1788 |
| Producer | Joe Hisaishi |
Kikujiro (Kikujirō no Natsu (菊次郎の夏?, literally "Kikujirō's Summer")) is a 1999 Japanese film starring, written, and directed by Takeshi Kitano. Its score was composed by Joe Hisaishi. The film was entered into the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. This movie was remade in Tamil as Nandalala.
Kikujiro tells the story of a young boy searching for his mother during his summer vacation. The film is mostly divided into smaller chapters, listed as entries in the boy's summer vacation diary. Kitano's inspiration for the character (not the film) was his own father, Kikujiro Kitano, a gambler who struggled to feed his family and pay the rent.
Similar to his earlier works Getting Any?, and A Scene at the Sea, Kitano references the yakuza only tangentially in Kikujiro, a departure from his work in famous crime dramas such as Sonatine and Hana-bi. Aimed at the whole family, the film was allegedly inspired by The Wizard of Oz with the basic premise being a road trip. Kitano's familiar elements and locales are present: drawings, vignettes, the seaside, and angels. Although the plot is composed largely of sad events, the film often has a light-hearted atmosphere, achieved mostly through Kitano's character and his somewhat bizarre encounters.
Masao, who lives alone with his grandmother in an old Shitamachi area of Tokyo, receives a package, and in looking for a seal finds a photo of his long lost mother. He finds her address in Toyohashi, several hundred miles to the west. Leaving home to see his mother, he meets his grandmother's neighbors, Kikujiro and his wife. Kikujiro's wife forces Kikujiro to accompany Masao on a journey to see his mother, telling Masao's grandmother that they are going to the beach.
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