Our favourite film of the week is easily Tokyo!, an extraordinary collection of short films by three of the best auteur in the world: Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Leos Carax (Pola X) and Bong Joon-Ho (The Host). Coming together to pay homage to a city that is as strange and stunning as only Tokyo can be, this film is strictly for cineastes looking for a one-of-a-kind film that isn't bound by formula.
French auteur Michel Gondry kicks off the show with a strange and inspired little story about a couple looking for work and accommodations in Tokyo. When the situations gets desperate, something unimaginable happens to one of them and you'd better believe us when we say "unimaginable". Wise, whimsical and wonderful, this is one of most original short films we've seen in a very long while.
Next up is fellow Frenchman Leos Carax, whose earlier films like Mauvais Sang (1986) and Pola X (1999) are some of the boldest works in contemporary cinema. His new short stars French actor Denis Lavant (of the homoerotic French film Beau Travail) as a creature that dwells in the sewers of Tokyo, occasionally emerging from below to wreak havoc on the city. A curious allegory about the Japan's notorious dislike of foreigners, this segment is utterly undescribable you have to see it to believe it.
And finally, we have a poignant piece from Korean hotshot Bong Joon-Ho who helmed blockbusters like Memories of a Murder and The Host. His segment tells a touching story of a loner who is forced to abandon his solitary existence after he falls for pizza-delivery girl. Odd yet oddly moving, his concluding chapter completes a fantastic triptych of cinema that is altogether bold, blistering and beautiful.
A must-see for serious movie buffs.