14 Oct 2008

Tokyo!

Director: Michel Gondry, Leos Carax, Bong Joon-Ho

Language: Japanese and French with English subtitles

Starring: Fujitani Ayako, Ryo Kase, Ito Ayum, Denis Lavant, Jean-Francois Balmer, Kagawa Teruyuki, Aoi You

Release: 2008-10-14

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.