Kikujiro

Kikujiro Kikujir no Natsu ? , literally Kikujirs Summer is a 1999 Japanese film starring, written, and directed by Takeshi Kitano. Its score was composed by Joe Hisaishi. The film was entered into the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.

Masao, who lives alone with his grandmother in an old Shitamachi area of Tokyo, receives a package, and in looking for a seal finds a photo of his long lost mother. He finds her address in Toyohashi, several hundred miles to the west. Leaving home to see his mother, he meets his grandmothers neighbors, Kikujiro and his wife. Kikujiros wife forces Kikujiro to accompany Masao on a journey to see his mother, telling Masaos grandmother that they are going to the beach.At the start of their journey, Kikujiro is not serious about reaching Toyohashi. He gets absorbed in track cycling races and gambles away their winnings. Later, left outside a yakitori restaurant, Masao encounters a molester. After a narrow escape, Kikujiro promises to keep to the journey and take Masao to his mother. When the taxi Kikujiro steals breaks down, they are forced to hitchhike to Toyohashi, meeting various people along the way. They get lifts from a juggler and her boyfriend on a date, and a travelling poet who delivers them to Toyohashi. When they finally reach the address of Masaos mother, Kikujiro finds her living as a housewife with another man and their daughter. Masaos mother lives a completely different life from what he expected. It is almost as if she has forgotten him. Kikujiro tells Masao that she has just moved away, pretending not to have seen her. He tries to comfort Masao with a small blue angel bullied from two bikers whom he happens to come across. ........

Source: Wikipedia