Tôkyô gomi onna (2000) User Reviews

Fascinating

[followingfleet · 7/10 · 9 May 2005]

I actually found this movie fascinating. It had nice shots and the lead actress was captivating. The protagonist showed sanity in her insane little world. The plot wasn't in the foreground here, it was more an exploration of character, and i couldn't stop watching it. There were a few frustrations, mostly to do with the plot, but it made up for all that with the use of the cute lead.

It has a really made-at-home sort of look which i usually don't go for, but it worked. Perhaps some of the shots went on a minute too long, but the point got through. The ending was a little slow to deliver but the movie as a whole was still interesting and worth a watch. Maybe just for those with patience.

lyrical movie set in contemporary Tokyo

[heikidesu · 8/10 · 26 September 2008]

A slow paced but enchanting movie... like Cafe Lumiere, it has some great shots of modern Tokyo and an even more realistic feel. However, I, for one, would probably not have watched an identical movie set in New York, for me much of the fun is in the Tokyo setting.

I have added it to the list of 10 or so Japanese/Japan-related movies that I recommend to friends.* A simple story, based on a young Tokyo woman who is obsessed with the man who lives above her in their apartment house, and sorts almost religiously through his trash. Eventually she schemes to run into him in real life and, maybe, the collision between dreams and reality sets her off on a different course. (Not much of a spoiler, but better safe than sorry).

The subtitles I saw seemed a bit weak in spots and it was a shame that they didn't translate Yume no Shima**... the place where the main action of the movie ends... kind of stops from completing the loop of the story.

The Netflix disc that I saw also had an interesting biography of the director's previous work. The other review on this site says that the movie seems a bit amateurish, but this information makes it clear he's earned his chops.

* let's see:

Stray Dog

Cafe Lumiere

Mr. Baseball

Walk Don't Run

Bounce KO Gals

Tony Takitani

Tokyo Monogatari

TenKouSei (Changing Schools... I haven't seen a translated version)

Always San Choume no Yuuhi (Always 3rd Precinct Evening Sun)

Stupeur et Tremblements (Fear and Trembling)

** Dream Island (might also be construed as a spoiler)

The Double Life Of Miyuki!

[samxxxul · 7/10 · 9 May 2020]

In "Tokyo Trash Baby" we are dealing with a Miyuki, a coffee-shop waitress, whose platonic love for a musician is manifested by her collecting his trash. She crushes on neighbour/musician Suzuki not by writing stories or shooting pictures, but by vetting his garbage bags and building a shrine . She lives her own life through the imagined, constructed life of his and finally discovering he's a cad. Ryuichi Hiroki sensitively portrayed the character as a parallel to the consumer culture of Tokyo.

Overall, this is part of the 'Love Cinema" series, along with Takashi Miike's "Visitor Q" among others. This is one of my fav as it's a low-key character study, shot on digital video for almost no money, and brings the viewer very close to the experience of Miyuki (Mami Nakamura), which increases sympathy for this troubled character.

Boring film about an unhappy girl

[raymond-15 · 6/10 · 22 September 2003]

I have to believe that people like Miyuki actually exist, because I knew a guy who did exactly the same thing though for a different purpose. He rummaged through waste paper baskets, garbage bags and incinerators in the hope of finding secret and useful information about the activities taking place in a competing company. A private spy, you might say.

In this film a waitress called Miyuki wants to find out more about Yoshinori a young musician who lives in the apartment above hers so she sifts through his discarded garbage bags in the hope of finding some clues about his private life. Outside her working hours she seems to spend all her time seated on the floor poring over torn letters and photos, cigarette butts and empty packets,a musical score, rotten fruit and even a used condom. Frustrated Miyuki has the disgusting habit of diving her hand into a packet of biscuits while dissecting the contents of the garbage bags. So much for hygiene!

Entertaining for the first ten minutes, it starts to get very boring because the pace is slow and for me there is nothing of interest amongst the garbage any way. The young actress is good and she really gets inside and maintains the character of a discontented girl with an unfulfilled passionate crush on the guy upstairs. Now and again a new discovery in the trash gives the story a bit of a lift. For example, her single-mindedness encourages her to seek out the address of a girl which she finds on a torn letter. Not what I call great drama.

Not exciting enough for me. Warning: Don't waste your precious time!

A surprisingly intelligent film

[d0ppelganger · 9/10 · 14 November 2003]

The title of the movie comes from the fact that the lead female character Miyuki, played by the delightful Mami Nakamura, goes through garbage. Not just general garbage, but that of Yoshinori, a musician/rock star played by Kazuma Suzuki.

Miyuki works as a waitress in a small cafe and lives in a tiny apartment, a very dead end for a very young woman like herself. Her only delight in life comes from having a *huge* crush on Yoshinori living in the same building. She is too timid to actually strike up a conversation with him, so she resorts to going through his garbage looking for mementos and insights to the man. She is a scavenger and a stalker.

An interesting twist of this film is that there is another stalker. A male patron to her cafe has a crush on Miyuki. Unlike her this person is a much more vocal stalker, he actually asks her out on strange dates. What makes him a stalker is that he wouldn't take 'no' as an answer.

As the stage is set, the film investigates Miyuki's strange world. There are quite a few twists and turns related to the thing she finds in the garbage and to her own stalker. The most intelligent part of the film, from the perspective of the screenplay, directing and the acting, is on her reactions to all those. The loneliness of modern life (or towards modern Japan in particular?), lust and shame find concrete manifestation in Mami Nakamura. You have to see to believe it.

Throw it away!

[missraze · 12 April 2016]

First of all I am quite sentimental about this film because its ending credit theme song "Sa Iko/Let's Go" introduced me to Wyolica, the singer of the uplifting record! The song is one of my favourites, not even just a fave of Japanese songs. But a favourite on my general list. I recommend the song at least. It was a gem of a gift after sitting through this film, which isn't bad at all actually; I've downloaded and just may watch again right now.

Anyway it's about a seemingly 20-something woman who crushes on her neighbour, a struggling bohemian type rocker, a nearby casanova she mysteriously lusts after. Well obviously she's shy. He is a regular at the shop where she works and she doesn't speak. He walks by her going upstairs or down the veranda, says hi apathetically, and she doesn't speak. She does however go through his trash. I am relieved I find this gross because I do find little harm in a little stalking lol But I also understand the trash thing. The ending scene where she finally trashes his trash as Wyolica starts singing about doing just that and basically enjoying life, don't get down about failures, and sa iko/let's go. Made me cry. I too am a heartbroken 20-something who even had my horoscope tell me to throw away my ex's photo, don't hold onto items he owns, and MOVE ON!

Anyway the film was very nice to watch, the actress is adorable but her acting, at least in this film: only one thing annoyed me and that was the tearless gasping sob toward the end of the film. Maybe if tears came down and it didn't look like she was mocking having to cry I would've tolerated it. However I understand perfectly well why the character would want to cry, I just didn't like the actress's crying.

The film was quiet, in that serious way indie films will be, particularly Japanese films, which are sometimes confused/accused for being tedious. People might be used to having plots spoonfed to them, and don't want to sit through long scenes without dialogue. I however fancy the impressionistic style of silently following the character for long stretches of time. Most of the film honestly is her digging through trash and making the shrine in her room, reading his mail to herself, trying on his old clothes, being bored at work, being alone at night, however that serves its purpose. It's about a lonely part time worker who obsesses over a no-good guy by looking through his trash. It could've been more lively but the mood is also quite lonely and stolid as the character is, so. It'll have long scenes of her just eating something, reading something, running, swinging in a playground, crying, etc. I like it though.

one man's trash, is one woman's treasure

[lost-in-limbo · 5/10 · 11 May 2005]

A waitress Miyuki becomes obsessed with a scruffy rock 'n' roll musician Yoshinori that lives in her apartment building. So she scrummage's through his garbage to learn more about him, as she's to shy to introduce her self or to start a conversation. While going through his garbage, she decides keep certain pieces to create a shrine for him in her apartment.

Well, this is definitely one quirky and direct film. This is no love story, but actually a bizarre and sometimes bleak tale of adoration. Miyuki would head back home after work and get his garbage and go through it, every night. So it becomes some sort of chore, where she would collect items such as cigarettes butts, Marlboros boxes, cereal boxes, bottles and a worn out shirt. Though, she also would smoke the same cigarettes he did, used the same shampoo and cut pictures of him and put them next to pictures of her or vice versa. As well as Confronting his ex-girlfriend and then trying to be like the woman of his dreams.

The story does have some charm to it, with some intriguing and spirited characters thrown into the mix. Especially at the café that Miyuki works at. Though, the actual story started to wore thin or drag the further the along it went. At times some of the sub-plots kind of derailed the main story and they weren't terribly engaging.

It started to get tediously repetitious after a while. With to many scenes that drag into nothingness and dwell on empty scenes, where pretty camera work was used. The editing felt as if it could have been far sharper. The ending or last 20mins just felt over-long and out of place. My interest started to fade when she gets the courage to face him and when she learns that he knew about her habit of going through his garbage. The film just came across as feeling longer than it was.

The film felt like it was basically shot on a hand held camera, with some scenes coming across like a documentary style and having a TV movie feel. The soundtrack was pretty reasonable and the director captures the sombre undertone of urban life in Tokyo.

The leads are fair. Mami Nakamura as the obsessed Miyuki gives such a moody performance and in doing so it's perfect in capturing the fixation of her character. Ignoring the outside world, such as the guy in the café that tries to get her interest. Kazuma Suzuki as the admirably cool Yoshinori, is not bad as the unknown figure we learn more about through Miyuki.

Though, it's not terrible, but overall the premise of the film ended up sounding more interesting than it actually was.

Wonderfully simple and engaging film

[sitenoise · 9/10 · 16 January 2011]

Mami Nakamura's performance makes this one a big winner. She's engaging, endearing, amusing, and sympathetic from start to finish. That's what it takes for a small film like this to succeed, a film which says: "Here's an offbeat character, do you like her? Does she draw you into her life, entertain you, and invite you to wonder what will happen to her?" It takes a clever script and a good performance. Tokyo Trash Baby delivers on both accounts.

Miyuki (Nakamura) is a girl in love with her upstairs neighbor, a musician. Instead of trying to meet him she is content with stealing his garbage and foraging through it to find things that will give her insight into his personality. She collects many things, like empty cereal boxes, cigarette butts, love letters, discarded musical scores, and creates a shrine to her love in her apartment. She discards a used condom. The story falls a little flat after she does eventually meet him face to face, but Miyuki is still fun to spend time with. As are the few peripheral characters in the film.

Tomorowo Taguchi plays the manager at the café where Miyuki works and is typical Taguchi odd but doesn't have much impact on the story. Two other characters do, though: Kô Shibasaki plays co-worker, Kyoko, whose screen time is devoted almost exclusively to telling Miyuki stories of her sexual conquests, dreams, and dilemmas ... and bumming smokes. Masahiro Toda plays a customer trying desperately to get Miyuki to go out with him but he's too boring to make an impact on her. His attempts at realizing love are face to face but his loneliness prevents him from catching a clue. Both characters serve as juxtaposition to Miyuki and highlight my favorite theme of the film: loneliness. Kyoko has a very active social life but seems unfulfilled and lost. Miyuki (contrary to most observations on the film) doesn't seem lonely. She seems content and happy with her life. That's what makes her interesting. Director Hiroki gives her the respect she deserves.

Tokyo Trash Baby is part of the Love Cinema series of six straight-to-video releases which also includes Takashi Miike's Visitor Q. It's a low-budget affair shot on Digital Video. It's uses all natural lighting and sometimes the glare from an open window distracts but never gets in the way. It's testament to the strength of the story and performance that technical limitations do not derail the project at all.

★★★★★

Disgustingly good!

[acerk21 · 7 July 2009]

When describing Tokyo Trash Baby, the words "weird", "gross" and "disturbing" come to mind. There are definitely a few problems with this film....For one, the English subtitles are horrendous containing many grammatical errors and misspelled words which get a little annoying after a while. Second, there are a few long and meaningless shots that go on forever and serve no purpose other than to suggest that the movie is more artistic than it really is. And lastly, the whole production of the film had that cheap quality to it mainly because of the low budget camera they were using. With all that said, I still really enjoyed this movie. I was engrossed the whole time watching it and for some odd reason, really started to care about the main character towards the end of the film. Also noteworthy is the strange music and the eerie mood that was established throughout. I know that the majority will absolutely loathe Tokyo Trash Baby, but if you're a little peculiar yourself and have the patience, then this movie is certainly recommended.

Liked it quite a lot

[Albert Fish · 8/10 · 27 June 2008]

This was a surprise to me, since I usually watch (hardcore) Japanese horror movies. The fact that I'm very interested in learning Japanese also helped a lot with this particular kind of movie, since most horror movies use a lot of slang, that much I can recognize. It was also interesting to see that *SPOILER* once the girl was involved with the guy she was in love with, she wasn't all too interested anymore (maybe because he told her she wasn't all that good in bed after they slept with each other?), whereas with the persistent guy she pushed off time and time again, she seemed to be more receptive and satisfied.

*END SPOILER* All in all, Tokyo Garbage Girl is a pretty interesting character study of an obsessed woman who doesn't seem to be sure what she really wants.