With the violence that has characterised so many of his films toned down to slapstick socko, Kikujiro is Takeshi Kitano's offbeat homage to The Wizard of Oz, writes David Parkinson.

As the amoral yakuza, who accompanies nine year-old Yasuke Sekiguchi on a cross-country mission to find his stay-away mom, Kitano gives an inspired demonstration of muddleheaded, short-fused deadpan, as the duo meanders from racetrack to fairground, encountering en route a paedophile, a rude hotel clerk and a couple of soft-centred bikers (who feature in a series of skits whose knockabout surrealism is chokingly funny).

There are no deep messages here, just dream sequences, unexpected revelations and several achingly funny set-pieces. A gem from a genius.