9-year-old Masao lives with his grandmother. His father is dead, his mother is living and working a long way away. The boy is lonely and unhappy, and when he finds a photo of his mother and her address he`s determined to go and find her. A grumpy, bickering couple become involved and the bossy wife orders her unwilling husband, Kikujiro, to escort the boy - which he does, but by a most circuitous route.
Fans of Takeshi Kitano`s earlier films, which, like Hana-Bi, were mostly highly original thrillers, might be a bit fazed by this new one. It`s a sweet, gentle road movie about the offbeat relationship between the grumpy man, played by the director, and the appealing youngster. It`s comparable to David Lynch turning from his bizarre thrillers to The Straight Story, and, indeed, why should Kitano, or anyone, always make the same kind of film? For most of its length I was enchanted by this offbeat charmer, with its gallery of oddball characters, its attractive location photography, its gentle humour and the lovely central performances. It does peter out before the end and it`s certainly too long, yet Kikujiro exerts a considerable spell.
