A triad of vignettes tinged by surrealism, Tokyo! is a special tribute to the Japanese metropolis made by three illustrious non-Japanese directors – Michel Gondry, Léos Carax and Bong Joon-ho.
Gondry addresses the Tokyo’s real estate market and unemployment; a young couple has to get a job in order to rent an apartment. Carax’s segment features a red-bearded Creature of the Sewers, a mysterious man who has been spreading confusion on the streets of Tokyo through a succession of irrational and provocative acts. Bong’s part depicts a hikikomori, a loner who has withdrawn from all contact with the outside world. As his skin does not tolerate sunshine, he has chosen the solitary confinement of his apartment. While all three stories are marked by the pronounced individuality of authorship, each of the protagonists is incapable of conformity and social assimilation.
»The film is not about Tokyo. I have no fascination with Tokyo. When the producers proposed that I write something very fast to be shot in Tokyo, I said yes, just to get back to work. The story didn’t have anything to do with Tokyo. It could have been any big city in the world. It’s not a filmmaker’s project; it’s a producer’s project. I did use some elements from Japan — that it’s an island, being repressed, having almost no foreigners.« (Leos Carax)
Léos Carax
Born in in 1960 as Alexandre Oscar Dupont in Suresnes, on the outskirts of Paris. He left school at the age of sixteen and moved to Paris, where he watched films at the Cinématheque and occasionally contributed several reviews to the famed Cahiers du Cinéma. He tried his hand at several short films prior to his widely debated 1983 debut, Boy Meets Girl. Since then the idiosyncratic director has been regarded as the wonder child of French cinema. As an actor, he has also performed some starring roles, among others playing in King Lear by Godard.
Michel Gondry
Born in 1963 in Versailles, France. He studied art. With his eight feature films, several shorts and seventy music videos, Gondry, who is also a musician, has created an original body of work.
Bong Joon-ho
Born in 1969 in South Korea. He studied sociology and film. He achieved critical acclaim for his first feature film, Barking Dogs Never Bite.