Tokyo! (2009)

Truly Dreadful Film

Perfect cast and a good story

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Full-length feature films that are really just compilations of shorter movies - usually revolving around a single topic or theme - tend not to work out all that well in the long one. Either the limited running time afforded to each individual story results in characters and plot lines that are too sketchy and underdeveloped to fully capture our interest, or the quality of each individual part varies so wildly that the movie as a whole fails to satisfy. After "Paris je t'amie" a few years back and "Tokyo!" now, it would appear that, at some point, every "exotic" city will have a multi-part cinematic valentine to call its own. And whereas "Paris, je t'aime," not surprisingly, applied a romantic patina to its setting, "Tokyo!," also not surprisingly, has opted for a more sci-fi and metaphysical-oriented approach in exploring its locale. In the first tale, "Interior Design," directed by Michel Gondy, Akira and Hiroki are a young couple who have come to the city to look for work and a place to live. He's an avant garde filmmaker, she his part time assistant and fulltime girlfriend. The movie deals with the tension that develops between not only Akira and Hiroki over finances and their future together but between the couple and the female friend whose cramped apartment they're all staying in at the moment. Then, just at the point where all is beginning to seem hopeless, Hiroki involuntarily turns into a chair. You were expecting something different, perhaps? "Interior Design," is of interest primarily in the way that it goes from the prosaic to the surreal without the slightest transition or warning. It's amusing to watch as the characters' lives suddenly come to parallel the movies he makes and the imaginative scenarios they are constantly playing out in their relationship. That one of those scenarios suddenly turns out to be real - or is it? - is all just a part of the game. The second episode, "Merde," directed by Leos Carax, is even more over-the-edge in its content than "Interior Design." Denis Lavant plays a grizzled sort of man/creature in a green suit who emerges periodically from his home in the sewers to terrorize the understandably distraught citizens who inhabit the world above. Unsure of how to cope with such a menace, the Japanese government calls in a French lawyer with a goatee that perfectly matches the creature's to help with the crisis. Unfortunately, this highly stylized segment becomes a grueling, heavy-handed polemic against racism, xenophobia and capital punishment, devoid of charm, grace or even a modicum of entertainment value. Luckily, in terms of quality, things pick up considerably with "Shaking Tokyo," easily the best of the bunch in both consistency and style. Imaginatively directed by Bong Joon-ho, "Shaking Tokyo" is a lyrical and poetic tale of a "hikikomori" - a person with a pathological phobia of leaving the house - who has to figure out what to do when he falls in love with a woman who, after meeting him once, turns into a hikikomori herself. Thus, as with many of these omnibus movie packages, "Tokyo!" becomes, ultimately, a thing of bits and pieces, of two episodes that work and one that doesn't (not a bad ratio as these things go, actually). My advice, therefore, would be to watch parts one and three and skip part two altogether.

It's hysterical to see people try to make something out of nothing. Tokyo was a bore. Period. If you have fast forward you will be using it because the first two segments are really boring and the last, which is beautifully photographed and acted, is also in its own way, a bore. Film makers who have nothing to say often to resort to obscure messages, oblique camera angles or surreal images. The first segment, in which the film makers takes on Hal David's notion that a "chair is just a chair" is ultimately just silly. From silly we move on to ridiculous with Merde, a forty minute waste of time about a man who lives in the sewers of Tokyo, is mentally challenged and upon finding some grenades, which he promptly and gleefully explodes in the streets, is arrested and eventually hanged. Attach to this thin premise some funny vocal musings and a "mysterious" ending and you a suddenly deep film about culture. Nonsense. If you believe this, I have piece of a toast with Christ's face in it which i would like to sell. The final film, "Shaking Tokyo" is beautifully photographed and acted, but it too is in the final revelation, not about much. This segment is forgiven because it is so tastefully acted by Teruyuki Kagawa, and how in the world the director got the streets of Tokyo without people is worth watching. Try as you may, these are seaweed thin morsels of film making, and attempting to attach meaning where there is none is what it is....fun.

Greetings again from the darkness. Three odd shorts merged together because of their Tokyo locations. Normally I am not a fan of the segmented, multi-director approach. The best that come to mind are Paris je'Taime and New York Stories. Tokyo is not at that level.The always interesting Michel Gondry (yes, he's French) has the best segment. Interior Design provides two story lines ... the fine line between generosity (helping a friend) and taking advantage of that friend; and the loneliness of losing one's self in a relationship. Gondry works wonders in a short time and I absolutely loved the chair as a metaphor.The second segment comes from another Frenchman, Leos Carax. By far the weakest and least accessible, Merde is about our facing the fear of an unknown terror. We are startled in the beginning as we are introduced to Merde, but the story falls apart after he is incarcerated.Korean Joon-ho Bong (The Host) presents Shaking Tokyo in the third segment. Dealing with a totally reclusive and obsessive character who, after 10 years, makes his first contact with another person and is captivated. There is some comedy here but also commentary on the need to connect.Overall, some interesting shorts, but don't expect any tie to the three stories ... other than the fascinating title city.

I just saw Toyko! this week and loved it. The three film a very different yet weave together well with themes on communication, or lack there of. It is astounding how in one of the most populated cities in the world people can be so alone. Michel Gondry's "Interior Design" is both tragically realistic and sweetly surreal. The tale of the two young lovers who find their relationship unraveling after their move to Tokyo! is very touching. Ayako Fujitani's portrayal of a young woman struggle to find her purpose in the world is genuine and relatable. Not to mention is has some great visual effects in the ending. Leos Carax's "Merde" is entertaining and at times funny and sometimes tragic and disgusting. Bong Joon-Ho's "Shaking Tokyo," the story of a recluse who finally comes out of his home in search of a girl with buttons, is creative and funny and endearing. Basically, you should watch it because it's great.