L'Été de Kikujiro (1999)

So since I have a lot to say and there's no review I'll write mine, this movie totally derserves one. It was one silly ride and right now I feel like telling all the things I felt while watching this wonderful piece though I'll make it as short as possible. I'm really speechless, that was a crazy and superb movie! I've always wanted to watch it but I was a bit scared it would be too slow like most of the Jmovies I watched until now, I love those Japanese slice of life dramas the most ( my favorite genre from Japan) but with their movies it's different I always find them so boring, so long and like nothing really happens maybe it's because I haven't seen enough or simply not the right ones so I'll still watch them, there are exceptions of course but generally I'm more disappointed than delighted (and Kikujiro was one of them fortunately for me). I loved it mostly because of our main character Kikujiro who's fearless, hateful and crazy, he has guts and that's what makes this movie so great, He was most of the time unbearable and acting like a child when people said "No" to his requests but that totally made me laugh and smile, this way the movie for me was so relaxing and hilarious, I really laughed at least three times thanks to him and it was like for 5 mins not less than that hihi. Regarding his character I want to add that he is really irresponsible and that people like him are either hated or loved as he is so straightforward,mean, spontaneous in the bad way, but I couldn't hate him because of his unique personality.
As for the kid it was one amazing experience for him cause the people he met with Kikujiro made his days much brighter filled with laughter, and he is the total opposite of Kikujiro, so quiet, don't talk much, so kind but also very sensitive. One thing is sure he is an obedient child and would do anything you ask him and never complains. So those two characters complemented each other so well and they were a very nice and cool company to the other.
The other characters were a big added bonus especially Fatso, Baldy and the traveller. Their scenes with the two protagonists were among the best, so weird, ridiculous but so much diverting at the same time, just I had some issues with Baldy's behaviour for various reasons I won't tell there.

It definitely has a little dramatic tone but honestly we don't feel it as it was such a fun movie. I need more like this one from Japan, a real Gem highly recommended.


The Ost was exactly to my taste, we hear it since the first second of the movie and it was enough to make me fall in love with it, and what's even better is that all the soundtracks never leave us, they are always in the background adding more emotion and depth to the movie.
Some of my favorite tracks here:
- River Side
- Summer
- Going Out
- The Rain

I'm giving an 8 rewatch value cause I'm sure I would still enjoy it a second time, it's the perfect movie to watch when we're feeling down and morose however also good when we need something refreshing and a bit creative.

So that would be it for me, and hope more people will give it a try and enjoy it;D

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A master even without violence

I'm continually amazed by Takeshi Kitano's batting average, his ability to fashion both laughs and heartache in a single instant is unparalleled, Kikujiro is no exception to this rule. A film imbued with serene beauty, presenting a series of increasingly poignant tales, yet so enamoured with itself that it had me wiping away tears of both laughter and sorrow. The film risks tipping headlong into sentimentality more than once, but every time it comes close, Kitano quickly gets the film back on track, leaving us with the emotional effect but effectively stripping it of sugary excess, filtered through his distant and deadpan touch. It's a film that prompts real emotional engagement because it cares for characters that it is happy to paint in imperfect colours, allowing us to warm to them throughout the story rather than pushing them on us in a cheap hard sell. Kitano structures the film as a collection of almost stand-alone vignettes, narratively linked sketches whose comical thrust is sometimes underscored by a touching element of sadness, each of which contributes to our understanding of the two lead characters and their fitfully evolving relationship. His direction is sublime, capturing the loneliness of its two main characters with beautiful ease, his playfully surrealist leanings even more pronounced here than in his previous films. Combined with another enchanting score by Joe Hisaishi, with its gorgeous blend of strings and piano, Kikujiro paints a beautiful take on alienation and guardianship. Brilliantly acted, well-written, achingly hilarious and featuring some truly stunning photography, a bittersweet symphony of unaffected profundity and voluminous emotional depth that hits all the right notes.

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