It’s the summer holidays, and Masao is bored: all his friends have left Tokyo, and he spends his time alone while his grandmother works. One day, he meets Kikujiro, a loudmouthed old yakuza, and the unlikely duo embark on a road trip to find Masao’s long lost mother, whom he has never met before.

Japanese auteur Takeshi Kitano pays homage to both The Wizard of Oz and Chaplin’s The Kid in this hypnotic, heart-warming drama. Kitano clashes the tough guy yakuza image of his titular character with the bittersweet, yearning naiveté of childhood. Joe Hisaishi’s score is, as ever, extraordinary!