A triptych by design, Tokyo! has much to offer lovers of the short film format. Michel Gondry supplies his typical, imaginative flair in Interior Design, though not before fleshing out a multilayered, humanistic story enlivened by interesting characters in intimate if not strained relationships. Not least of these is lead Hiroko (Fujitani Ayako), who's inner dialogue plays out-loud as narration, and who becomes the locus of the to-be-expected Gondry quirkiness, an element which works suitably well in the J-pop genre, known for working this type of mind-expanded premise.
In Leos Carax' installment Merde, Denis Lavant turns in an committed performance as a grenade wielding, leprechaun-like creature inhabiting the Tokyo sewer system and striking fear into the hearts of the citizenry. In that Carax interjects reality-style, man-on-the-street reporting and innovative 3 and 4 split screens, he keeps the movie appealing, almost making up for times such as the prolonged, droll, trilingual translation. Past its shortcomings, the film poses acerbic commentary on ideas surrounding immigrants in Japanese society as well as the relationship between tv news media to city dwellers and how the former influences the way reality is perceived and experienced by the latter.
Shaking Tokyo concerns itself with what happens when hikikomori --extremly self-isolating hermit types-- fall in love. Director Bong Joon Ho's vision plays out quite like a Murakami short story, what with the symbolic timing of the earthquakes that occur, the first one fittingly when the man, (Kagawa Teruyuki), first locks eyes with a garter-wearing pizza-delivery girl (Aoi Yu), whose body is imprinted with mysterious, tattoo-like buttons. The story steadily builds to a crescendo of increasing metaphoric imagery and symbolic action, from the man venturing out for the first time in 11 years, to the strange collective behavior of the Tokyo populace, to of course the raison d'aitre of the girl's tattoo buttons. The appearance of Takenaka Naoto as the 2nd pizza delivery guy is an added treat.
Ho exhibits skillful use of soundtrack to underscore and accentuate his visual portion, whereas Gondry sometimes veers towards the purely visual, to beautiful if slightly gimmicky effect. Whereas the first and last films share unusual views of the Tokyo streets --Shaking Tokyo's robot pizza delivery man in one such shot an unexpected highlight-- the middle piece deals decisively more with the slimy underbelly of the city in terms of physical space. Though Merde buries its human elements with layers of cynical caricature and parody, Interior Design and Shaking Tokyo confront the human soul more directly, if not any less fantastically. Though one might want more movie from the other two, only Merde leaves room for a sequel.
Tokyo! official site.
Tokyo! trailer:
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