Tokyo!

To say that Tokyo! is a strange concoction would be to undersell it quite a bit. Three directors here present their own, separate, forty-minute segments — and they’re all inventive and a little bit crazy.

Michel Gondry’s Interior Design is about a young couple having just moved to Tokyo. He is an aspiring filmmaker, she seems to not do much of anything. It’s a coming-of-age tale in a way; their relationship mutating before our eyes. I found this story hilarious and really sweet. And, as you might expect from Gondry, it’s strange and surprising.

Leos Carax’s Merde is hard to explain. It follows a man (is he possessed? From another world? Crazy?) called Merde on his terrorising adventures through the city. Clad in a green suit and with a demented look in his eyes, he attacks people above ground by day, only to retreat below ground to nest during the night. He eats only flowers and cash. He seems to have some sort of supernatural abilities. This movie was entirely surreal, yet hysterically funny and a wonderfully absurd take on the old Godzilla story.

Finally, Shaking Tokyo by Bong Joon-Ho is a love story about a recluse who hasn’t left his apartment in ten years. One day, he meets a pretty girl who delivers his pizza. There is an eartquake (although it might just be metaphorical) and his life changes. I was a little disappointed in the conclusion to this story, and I don’t think I understood all of it, but it was pretty and sweet, and it had a good sense of humour.

All in all, these three stories act both as a tribute to and satire of the city of Tokyo. While Merde was my favourite segment, you might find something else to like here. It’s certainly worth checking out.