Linbeymusol
Wonderful character development!
SmugKitZine
Tied for the best movie I have ever seen
Beystiman
It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
Howard Schumann
In Takeshi Kitano's 1996 semi-autobiographical film Kids Return, his first since a motorcycle accident (suicide attempt) in 1995 left him close to death, the Japanese education system comes in for a thrashing. Masaru (Kenichi Kaneko) and his buddy, Shinji (Masanobu Ando) know how to have a good time. Not to be bothered with such fruitless endeavors like going to school and learning something useful, they would rather clown around, harass teachers, bully younger students and shake them down for money, sneak into porn theatres, perform stand-up comedy (manzai) routines, or set fire to a teacher's brand new car - just good, clean fun.As they say in the vernacular "what goes around comes around" and the coming around this time is in the form of a friend of one of the bullied students who unfortunately for the boys is a skilled street fighter. Their encounter turns their attention to a boxing gym where they give up on school and train for revenge against the oppressor. Unfortunately, Shinji is the only one who shows any talent for boxing and he begins to climb in the estimation of "The President." Masura, on the other hand, gives up and joins a menacing yazuka gang. Shinji passively follows an older, cynical boxer who teaches him some illegal tricks to succeed in the ring as well as some strange ways to lose weight.Things work well for a time until both of the lads crash and burn and realize how much better it is just to hang out and be happy than actually do something constructive. Meanwhile, a gentle boy named Reiko (Atsuki Ueda), marries his perennial sweetheart Sachiko (Yuko Daike) but decides to pass on college. He gets a job in a corporation which doesn't work out and he is soon eking out a living as a taxi driver, a depressing sequence which seems to be in the film for no reason other than to show us how the education system failed again.Kids Return is a very well done film with some excellent boxing scenes and a few good laughs, but there does not seem to be any lessons learned here. While we have to cut Shinji and Masura some slack because, after all, they are just kids and they may be a tongue-in-cheek stand-in for Kitano's own adolescence, what Kids Return is trying to say with all of this is a head-scratcher – maybe it's just that boys will be boys.
Antony-18
Too good for a simple man like me to ever express.It has been three years since I saw this movie. Three years since the final credits rolled, and to this day I cannot forget this movie.It is my life's work to track it down again, just to relive it. A movie so special, that to be able to watch it again, can be compared to your first love. To be able relive that first night together.There will be good films, there will be excellent films. But there will only ever be one Kid's return. The story, I would only spoil with my words. You simply must see it for yourself. You'll never forgot it, nor regret it.
weidong
Takeshi doesn't make me disappoint again. This type is very rare to him, but he did it well. It confirmed his high level of controlling kinds of types. The character act very naturally and the living individuality affect me deeply. Comparable with his former works, it will adjoin you more. The boxing scene is stunning. The friendship of characters is unforgettable. Here I must be honor of Jô Hisaishi(the composer of this music), because it's important parts of Takeshi's work. The music is exciting and moving. Anyway it is a very meaningful movie about youth. This work attract me to look for others of Takeshi. Because I know it's my favorite directors in Japan besides Kurosawa.
Ricky-70
T. Kitano made his best film in 1990, it was "violent Cop". It is wild and strong picture, in a sense like this movie: "Kids Return". It takes place in a school. There are several students bored of their life. Two of them decided to become unsuccessful comic actors, the rest of the group enter in the Yakuza, except one who become a strong boxer. Is like in the Oshima's film about youth, every thing had a bad end, often that end is without a moral, maybe this is the real power of Kitano's movies. The only guide is the man in him self, alone. Every man is self care, the life is the thing it is. Kitano refuse the fantastic view, like in the new Japanese cinema (for example "Kitchen" by Morita), and decide to take an overlook of the facts that show us. That is the reason why I give 9 stars to this movie.
