Tokyo - Movie Review

Tokyo

A group of three shorts that explore the city of Tokyo and ask the question – Do we shape cities or they shape us? Like a lot of these types of projects though it’s just a loose structure to examine larger issues.

“Interior Design” – Directed by Michael Gondry
“Merde” – Directed by Leos Carax
“Shaking Tokyo” – Dir. Bong Joon-ho

First I’ve talked before about my love for Gondry’s work, innovative films, stunning commercials, and even some of my all time favorite videos. I’d hate to explain too much for fear of giving too many spoilers, but noticed in the clip, they already do that.

In “Interior Design” a young woman is questioning her life, goals, ambition, relationship. All in the context of her and her rather flaky film director boyfriend trying to move and set up shop in Tokyo. They live in a cramped studio with an old friend, where they soon outlive their welcome. They spend all day looking at one horrifying tiny and dismal apartment after another. As the young woman becomes increasingly dismayed by their situation – the film takes a dramatic surreal turn. She is taken for granted and disappearing into the woodwork to the point where she literally becomes a piece of furniture. The transformation scene if riveting, as well as the sequence where she’s passed haplessly from one prospective owner to another. Finally she is taken home by a kindly young musician, who takes care of her gives her purpose – though this short provides hours worth of discussion on these points. There’s talk in the movie about how the big buildings in Tokyo often don’t touch, but have gaps of only a few inches in between them. They muse on how a whole legion of thin lost souls who’ve literally “fallen between the cracks” and live in these voids, and how they come out at night and roam the city. This is the fate of our young main character, but we’re left to figure out for ourselves – is this actually a happy ending? Is it better to be a useless human treated like furniture, or a piece of useful furniture treated with humanity?

In “Merde” a leprechaun-like creature emerges from the sewers to wreck havoc on Japan – complete with Godzilla music in the background. A wild disheveled creature, is he just a crazy homeless guy, some sort of misplaced mythical creature, an alien? He’s harmless enough though until he finds a crate of old grenades in the sewer and goes on a killing rampage. He’s brought in, tried, and alternatively reviled and given the pop icon treatment. Then out of the blue comes a French attorney who bears a striking resemblance to the creature. The same cloudy eye, the same crazy twisted red beard, the same long dirty claw-like fingernails. This new character can also speak the creature’s language. Oddly though no one ever questions this? There’s some social commentary going on here, that I can only suppose comes down to “playing the game” the “creature” is outcast, antisocial, dirty, callous, vile – while the lawyer, who is every bit the same “creature” is refined, effete, cultured and no one thinks twice about how it is he speaks this strange guttural language with it’s growls, barks and face slaps. Even during the execution (which takes an odd turn) no one seems to question that the prisoner is praying in some bizarre way to his god for deliverance – as does the attorney. So in the end is being an upright citizen or a monster all perception? Does it amount to just how well you can “pass” in society?

“Shaking Tokyo” was a delightful surprise. It explores the life of a shut in who has lived alone without going outside for ten years. His house a tribute to his obsessive compulsiveness with it’s meticulously stacked magazines and empty Pizza Boxes. His only contact the delivery people that deliver food. The young girl that delivers pizza on Saturday though attempts to make contact and he’s intrigued by her tattoos, a series of “buttons” for different emotions and actions. They bond over an earthquake where she faints and he tries to revive her, finally finding her “reset” button and bringing her back to life. He finds that just their brief interaction has rocked his world. He’s dismayed to find that the next day when he orders pizza, she’s no longer working for the pizza place, the new driver explaining that she “won’t come out”. Summoning great strength he decides to go find her. He’s shown running through the abandoned streets of Tokyo, occupied only by robot delivery men. Over the past ten years, the entire city has become shutins, totally isolated and alone. Other people are only seen through glimpses in windows or as vague shapes behind milky glass. He begs people to come out, especially as the city is increasingly shaken by earthquakes, but they won’t even leave their homes as their buildings crumble around them. He finally finds the girl and implores her to come outside, not to become another ghost. He pushes the “love” button – fade to black.

If you like Director’s movies, ones that plunge into the surreal and explore complex issues, check this collection out.