Tokyo! (2008)

Directors:

Joon-ho Bong
Leos Carax

Writers:

Gabrielle Bell (graphic novel "Cecil and Jordan in New York") (segment)
Joon-ho Bong (writer)

Release Date:

16 August 2008 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A cinematic triptych of three Tokyo-set stories.

Plot Keywords:

City Name In Title | Directed By Several Directors | One Word Title | Place Name In Title | Exclamation Point In Title

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Yû Aoi	...	Pizza-Delivery Girl (segment "Shaking Tokyo")
YosiYosi Arakawa	...	Man running from his home (segment "Shaking Tokyo")
Jean-François Balmer	...	Maître Voland (segment "Merde")
Julie Dreyfus
Ayako Fujitani	...	Hiroko (segment "Interior Design")
Ayumi Ito	...	Akemi (segment "Interior Design")
Teruyuki Kagawa	...	Man (segment "Shaking Tokyo")
Eimei Kanamura	...	(segment "Merde")
Ryo Kase	...	Akira (segment "Interior Design")
Denis Lavant	...	Merde' (segment "Merde")
Yutaka Matsushige
Nao Omori	...	Hiroshi (segment "Interior Design")
Sohee Park	...	A guy in the movie theater
Naoto Takenaka	...	Pizza-Delivery Man (segment "Shaking Tokyo")
Satoshi Tsumabuki	...	Takeshi (segment "Interior Design")
Hiroshi Yamamoto

Also Known As:

Dokkyo! (South Korea)
Tokyo! (Hong Kong: English title)

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

France | Japan | Germany | South Korea

Language:

Japanese | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | South Korea:15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Hong Kong:IIB | France:U | UK:15 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Kugayama, Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Comme des Cinémas

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Gojira (1954)

Soundtrack:

Tokyo Town Pages

Strange and amusing film that isn't made by Japanese directors

"Tokyo!" is a film about 3 different stories that take place in Tokyo and each story is made by different directors.

Michel Gondry's "Interior Design" was surreal but also something some people can relate with. It's about a girl who has no ambitions in life and doesn't stand for herself and always gets the help from others. It's not that she doesn't want to be useful, she just has a difficult time with time trying to find her purpose in the world. But a drastic change takes place in her life. It felt it added a nice touch to Japanese life style and culture although some may disagree.

Leos Carax's "Merde" was disappointing and the story was boring and it felt the director wasn't even trying. The plot could have taken place else where cause it really has nothing to do with Tokyo or even has the atmosphere to it.

Bong Joon-Ho's "Shaking Tokyo" was the best out of the 3, it seems like for films like this they always show the best for last. It's about Teruyuki Kagawa who is a hikikomori who never steps foot outside, but that changes when he meets a pretty pizza delivery girl but in the process he accidentally inspires her to be a hikikomori herself, so from than on it's about a hikikomori falling for another hikikomori. I liked the style of this part of the film, it explored some of the characteristic in japan and the director seems to have done his research. I also fell for the actress who played pizza delivery girl Aoi Yu, maybe it's cause of her innocent and pretty looks although it's my first time seeing her in a film.

I give the film a 6.8/10 and if the second part of the film was good it would have been higher.

6.8/10