Kids Return (1996) is a title I remember because it would always be programmed on SBS. I was aware of Takeshi Kitano as a teenager, mainly when Fireworks was released and received praise from critics like Margaret and David on The Movie Show. There’s a power and beauty to Fireworks with the subplot of the disabled cop learning to cope with his life through painting, and knowing that Kitano had survived a motorcycle accident, which left one side of his body paralysed, it’s hard not to read into its autobiographical meaning (particularly when the paintings are made by Kitano himself). Only after watching Kids Return for the first time, did I read that it was the film Kitano made after the accident before Fireworks. Alongside the score by Joe Hisaishi, Kids Return is carried along by yearning and empathy.
Shinji (Masanobu Ando) and Masaru (Ken Kaneko) are friends in high school, yet often ditch class to play pranks on the teachers, and beat up other kids for their pocket money. There’s a capacity for violence between them, which sets them onto different pathways. Masaru is drawn to the Yakuza lifestyle by a local gang, and Shinji finds a talent for boxing at a gym. Kitano doesn’t view them as thugs, just as impressionable kids who are swayed by different mentors and authority figures after high school. A masterful move by Kitano is to expand the focus and follow other classmates as background storylines, including a pair wanting to become successful comedians, and another quiet boy who is smitten by a cafe waitress. Each strand adds to the theme of life’s disappointments and growing pains, and unexpected surprises and tenderness.
Apparently the first of Kitano’s films at that point to really be successful in his home country, and it’s not hard to see why, as its high school focus and its capacity to be funny, tough and moving is a knock-out combination. Streamed it on Mubi (UK). Recommended.
VHS Tracking 