Kids Return

Masaru and Shinji are two high school juvenile delinquents who spend their time extorting classmates for small change. After Masaru is beaten up by a former victim, the pair go to a local gym to learn how to box. Shinji, however, proves to have much more innate talent than Masaru, who abandons the sport to join the local yakuza gang. After Masaru's departure, Shinji falls in with Hayashi, an older boxer whose unhealthy influence pulls the youth down. Meanwhile, Masaru's arrogant behavior is getting him into trouble with his gang. Eventually, the two friends' downward spirals of life meet again at their old school.

Kids Return was the first film from acclaimed Japanese director Takeshi Kitano (A Scene at the Sea, Sonatine, Hana-Bi) following his near-fatal motorcycle accident in 1994. Kitano was forced to undergo a long and painful physical rehabilitation, and Kids Return reflects his struggle in the question at its heart: Which is more difficult, to die or to go on living? Featuring a beautiful music score by Joe Hisaishi (Princess Mononoke, Kiki's Delivery Service, Sonatine), Kids Return is a minimalist masterpiece filled with irony and melancholy.