Yaji and Kita: The Midnight Pilgrims (2005) Mayonaka no Yaji-san Kita-san

Movie Rating NR Contains: Strong Language Violence Nudity Mature Situations

Director: Kankuro Kudo Movie Genre: Comedy, Surrealism Country: Japan Yaji and Kita: The Midnight Pilgrims Score Card The following scores are based on a 0.0 to 10.0 rating scale Hover your mouse pointer over the name of each scoring category below for a description Direction: 7.6 Writing: 8.0 Acting: 6.9 Cinematography: 6.8 Sound and Score: 7.0 Functionality: 9.0 Presentation: 8.2 Genre Comparison: 7.0 General Comparison: 6.5 Overall: 7.4 Reviewed 2006-08-15 21:33:09

Yaji and Kita: The Midnight Pilgrims by first-time director, Kankuro Kudo is a surrealistic, hallucinogenic, gay road movie about two lovers from the Edo period and their journey to Ise Sanctuary to renew their spirits and begin a new life with a clean slate. Yajirobe is a married man, who is in love with Kitahachi, a gay junkie whose out-of-control heroin habit has caused him to lose touch with reality. The lovers encounter several zany characters and situations while on their quest for restoration.

This movie is divided into several vignettes, presented as landmarks along the journey. This episodic style of storytelling works well for the pacing and development of the plot, equating the narrative to that of a video game. Each checkpoint on their journey is like a new level, with Ise being the end sequence. Instead of getting progressively more difficult for our protagonists, each step gets exponentially weirder, as reality is replaced with fantasy throughout the course of the movie. The introduction starts out in black and white and is fairly serious, moving at a relatively slower pace. The movie ends with Yaji and Kita riding a pink elephant with green polka dots and bushy eyebrows.

Considering that Kita has completely lost touch with reality, there is quite a bit of surreal, psychedelic imagery. When Yaji and Kita first leave Edo, they leave the town as well as the time period. The two men hop on their anachronistic Easy Rider tribute chopper and drive off into present day Japan, where they are promptly pulled over by the police and chastised for their historical inaccuracy. When the duo arrives at the Laugh Inn, they are told by its tyrannical ruler, Shonoshin Kimura, played by Riki Takeuchi, that they cannot leave until they make him laugh. The two also encounter a yakuza boss’s fan club, a town where all of its citizens except one are excellent singers, an enchanted forest, and the afterlife just to name a few.

Since the source of Kita’s insanity is his drug addiction, there are many drug references scattered throughout the movie. Kita is constantly tempted by a stash of pills that he decided to take with him on the journey. Also, his withdrawal symptoms are causing him to have strange hallucinations that make him unsure of what is real. At times, the only thing that is real to Kita is his love for Yaji.
With this movie’s protagonists being two homosexual men, Yaji and Kita: The Midnight Pilgrims is not the least bit ashamed of its gay content. Yaji and Kita are both proud to be gay and their homosexuality is celebrated in several instances throughout the movie. The ridiculous song and dance numbers are a hilarious tribute to gay culture. Also the Singing Inn is owned and operated by a tea-serving, singing, drag queen named Ochin. Since Kita is the more outspoken of the two, most of the gay elements in the movie are focused on him. The scenes in the Souls Inn that make the afterlife out to be a bathhouse are not to be missed.

In most other movies Yaji and Kita would be the comic relief characters due to their ostentatious nature. In this movie, that role is filled by Inspector Kin-kin. Kin-kin is the detective that is investigating the death of Yaji’s wife. He and his sidekick, Non-non, are always one step behind Yaji and Kita. With this movie, the balance of comedy and narration is reversed and Kinkin and Non-non are the least funny characters in the movie. This role reversal works so well because without Kin-kin and Non-non to break up the wackiness, this movie would be too juvenile.

Overall this is an extremely fun movie. The relationship between Yaji and Kita is very entertaining, there are just as many tender moments as there are “born to be gay” ones. The surrealism is highly effective and works well with the ground rules that the movie establishes for itself. There are times toward the end when the ridiculousness can be a bit overwhelming, but those instances are as easily dismissed as light-hearted fits of insanity.