Kikujiro

Considering Kitano Takeshi’s violent films, the last sort of film one would expect him to make, would be a road movie about a kid who travels in the search of his mother. At a first glance, Kikujiro’s plot, may seem redundant and cliché. The story of a boy who goes after finding his mother is indeed repeated through out literature and cinema, but what makes this film, in particular, interesting is how Kitano presents a humor out of such sad story. Kitano himself admits it in the film when “Traveling Man” says: “That stuff happens, all the time in books.” as a reaction to Masao’s failed attempt to meet his mother. Therefore the challenge that Kitano seems to be setting himself in is how he can develop characters and juxtapose events, in order to present a sense of humor out of a tragic story, and also how he can treat violence in order it to become more invisible. All the details within the narrative is indeed so rich and well crafted, that even a critical audience engages himself/herself in the events, rather than trying to predict the rest of the story.
In Kikujiro, the narrative structure is fairly different than the typical three act narrative form. Kitano unfolds his story in chapters and segments. Kitano mentions the reason for this structure in an interview himself:
I gained the strong impression that this film didn’t have the turning point or decisive narrative moment that my other films have had- you could watch the whole thing without feeling that any particular scene was crucial in terms of the overall shape.
Each chapter begins with an illustrative introduction, in which a particular image representing the chapter is decorated as if it is part of Masao’s diary. That is how Kitano wants us to read the film: as a boy’s summer adventure – a story that is somewhat told from Masao’s perspective.
However, on another level of analyzing the narrative form, the film can be divided into two major segments: before and after the moment where Masao meets his mother. This scene does serve as a turning point. Before meeting Masao’s mother both his and Kikujiro’s motivations were to find her. Once they meet the mother and Masao feels rather unwanted, their motivation shifts. Now it is quite ambiguous what their motivation becomes after this moment. For Kikujiro and other adult characters, cheering Masao eventually becomes the driving force and the objective. From this point onwards the narrative gains a more freedom to maneuver. The characters become more entertaining and less bounded to the restrictions that a story might imply. The film eventually becomes a selection of jokes, games and amusing tricks that don’t necessarily follow logic, and are juxtaposed delightfully in an emotional milieu, as if they are part of a boy’s memoirs.
Even though this is a road movie, there is no precise indication about when the actual trip begins. Kitano avoids providing his audience with any reference to neither time nor place. We can vaguely guess how many days the whole trip took, or how far they traveled, not being precisely familiar with the geography of Japan. It is indicated verbally, in the dialogue when the trip begins by Kikujiro’s wife, yet visually it is only after the first gambling scene that we get to see Kikujiro and Masao in a place that is certainly not home, but also doesn’t very much look like a hotel as well. Also by avoiding to provide us with road shots of them traveling to this place, we are left in this bewilderness of whether the journey has already begun or are they still in Tokyo, just spending the money. With these smooth touches Kitano creates a transition between the scenes prior to the trip and the ones during it that almost makes the beginning of the journey seamless.
What shape the narrative structure of this film more than anything else are Kikujiro and Masao’s relationship, and how their characters contrast each other. While Kikujiro threatens, curses, bullies everyone and has a violent attitude, Masao is calm, polite, and obedient. Masao has this strong motivation of finding his mother, and Kikujiro is conceived perhaps somewhat unmotivated. Kikujiro is a middle-aged man with a violent tattoo on his back, whereas in contrast, Masao is portrayed as a cute innocent boy. Kitano perhaps does over-exaggerate this contrast. For example the way Kitano establishes a comparison between Masao’s character in the beginning of the film and other kids of his own age, is an attempt to maximize his innocence, and emotional empathy that the audience might have with him. On the other end, Kikujiro is involved in numerous acts of violence. The image of his face covered in blood is perhaps one of dominant graphical moments of the film.
Looking at the relationship of the two characters, it is likely to say that Kitano is trying to establish an impression that implies a father-son relationship. This is indicated several times within the film, and Kikujiro himself points it out in the form of a joke, to Masao. However, considering Kikujiro’s naïve childish character, Kitano also places scenes within the narrative that suggest, Masao taking care of Kikujiro. For instance after Kikujiro’s fight in the fun fair, when he is covered in blood, Masao desperately searches for first aid material, and cleans Kikujiro’s face. Now this is a very symbolic act, and it not only portrays an emotional connection between the two characters, but also suggests Masao’s thoughtfulness and caring qualities, over Kikujiro’s naïve inner-child. The way they are represented in this scene, gives the impression of Masao being the adult and Kikujiro the child. This notion can be felt through out the film. Comparing Masao’s and Kikujiro’s solutions for getting a ride can be another evident example; where Kikujiro’s attempts are mean and rude, Masao seems to have a much more civilized approaches.
A narrative process that is very likely and favored in the road movies is the transformation of characters, throughout and because of the trip. In Kikujiro this seems to be the case mainly for Kikujiro comparing to Masao, even though it is Masao who is basically the main subject, and motivation for the trip. A direct example of this would be Kikujiro visiting his mother, after Masao’s failed attempt to reunite with his own mother. A clear parallel can be made between the two incidences, and the way in which in both scenes they get to see their mother from a distance and avoid an actual confrontation. Therefore Kikujiro’s visit to his mother can be viewed as result of the reflection of earlier incident in him.
The film has a beautiful touch in terms of its sense of humor. Kitano has managed this connection with his audience by formal techniques that go beyond the content of the narrative. First he does it through editing. Many of the humorous events function simply because of the way images are juxtaposed, and how the relation between them has been established. For example, in the second part of the bike races scene where Masao’s predictions doesn’t turn out to be accurate, we get this constant switch in picture between the boys wrong predictions and failing of the desired bikers. Another example would be the swimming pool scene: Kikujiro first claims that he knows how to swim, he jumps and then swims ridiculously with a tube around his waist. From this shots, which depicts a lot of activity, Kitano cuts to a static shot of Kikujiro upside down in the pool. This stasis provides us with a sense of humor that is beyond the content of the image, and rather a result of wise juxtaposition.
Even though Kitano has tried to produce a less violent picture comparing to his other films, his temptations in adding elements of violence can be yet felt. It is true that he has cut out the direct scenes of violence, and fights, but the evidences of violence exist through the film. For instance, Kikujiro’s character is indeed a very violent one. He constantly shows an attitude towards different people, curses and participates in the acts of violence. He seems to be only obedient to his wife, who sets the trip and forces him to help Masao find his mother. Some characters react conservatively and some violently to his big mouthing.
Kitano smoothens the level of violence in this film using three techniques. First he does it through framing and editing of the scenes of violence. He either lets the violence happen off-screen, or simply has cut the violent scenes out. For instance in the fun fair scene, when Kikujiro and Masao are participating in a game, and throwing rocks at rewards, all we get to see is their feet, standing on stones. Therefore even such action that is less violent in a direct sense has been hidden from the camera. This shows how Kitano is aware of the impact of gestures, regardless of what narratively they imply.
The second method he uses, is balancing the violence mainly expressed through Kikujiro, by other characters, and particularly Masao. As described before, there has been a great effort to show Masao as an innocent cute boy. Next to Masao we also have “Traveling Man” who is depicted as a relaxed, hip person. Even the two chopper bikers who are expected to be though guys, are considerably naïve and obedient.
The third element is perhaps the music sound track. Even though I believe it is too droning and melodic, and its constant repetition, makes it somewhat frustrating, but it does serve in the favor of smoothening the overall impression of the film.
A certain element that is highlighted through out the film, through both mise-en-scene and sound, is the notion of angel. The film begins with the sound of the “angel bell” while Masao is running carrying the backpack with wings that was given to him by the young couple later in the movie. Kikujiro gives Masao the “angel bell” after the failed attempt of reuniting with the mother. This perhaps is to suggest the feeling of the boy towards Kikujiro and others that they meet on the road. Masao probably viewed these people as his guardian angels, and the people who take care of him, regardless of their senses of irresponsibility and immatureness.
By moving beyond a simple plot, developing an interesting narrative form, and by establishing an odd or rather unique relationship between the two main characters of the film, Kitano has taken a courageous conventional step from his typical violent films, and has created a road movie. The sense of humor, which is a result of skillful formal juxtaposition, along with the whole feeling of the film, that implies somewhat a boy’s perspective of life, have distanced it from a violent tragic drama. At the end looking back at the multiplicity of all the different elements and techniques, we can see how they function together to create an amusing and at the same time touching film.