An anthology film with director’s looks at the city of Tokyo! The trailer was amazing, and I was so looking foward to this, and was a bit let down. I loved Gondry’s surreal short, though it is incredibly strange, and Bong Joon-ho’s is at least interesting, but I did not at like the film of Leos Carax. It was strange and not the least bit enjoyable. Just off the wall for it’s own sake. It might be worth seeing the first and the 3rd short, but just skip the second, because it brings all 3 down. A pretty strange little anthology.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Interior Design

Directed by Michel Gondry.

A young couple moves to Tokyo with all their possessions in there beater of a car. This is Hiroko (Fujitani Ayako) and Akira (Kase Ryo) and they go to stay with their college friend Akemi (Ito Ayumi) in her microscopic apartment, promising to find their own place. Akira is a filmmaker, who makes really low budget, strange films, and his film is going to be screened at a local porn theater, and gets a job wrapping paper at a local store. Hiroko does not do much, sitting around and cutting out photos from magazines and making collages, and halfheartedly looking for an apartment, though there is nothing good that they can afford.

Akira shows his film, which gets some seemingly good response (though it seems that most people are just trying to be nice), and starts questioning if Hiroko has any drive.

Hiroko starts to question her relationship with Akira, and when out on a walk around the city, begins a literal transformation into a chair. First changing part by part, then fully into a chair, and changing back into her naked self, only to change again into a chair.

Hiroko as a chair gets taken to a cute guys apartment, and starts to live her life as his chair. Looking over his shoulder as he works. And his chair does keep moving, even being found in the bath.

Hiroko writes Akira a letter, telling him about how happy she is with her new life.

•••

So very very strange, but enjoyable, and the effects are great too. It seems like a normal story, then just goes nuts with her turning into a chair. Really fun.

____________________________________________

Merde
Directed by Léos Carax.

Tokyo is invaded by a strange sewer dwelling creature named Merde (Denis Lavante). He comes out of his sewer and causes mayhem, stealing money and eating it. Taking cigarettes and phones, and whatever he can. He licks women, and causes chaos before going back into the sewers. This causes an uproar in Tokyo, and they send police underground to find him.

Underground Merde finds a cache of grenades from World War 2 and comes up and starts throwing grenades everywhere, killing many innocent bystanders. Merde is finally captured and taken to prison, but no one can speak his strange language.

A lawyer from France named Maítre Voland (Jean-Francois Balmer) who has a very similar look to the sewer creature and seems to be able to speak the creatures language. He represents Merde in court.

The court obviously does not like Merde, and he tells them that he does not like them, and he always awakes living in the place with the people he hates he most. He is found guilty and set to be killed.

Merde is hung, bu then the lights go out and when they come back on, Merde has escaped!

••••

Just plain weird, and not at all enjoyable. I am sure there was a message about media in there, but it was so covered, literally in Merde that I don’t even want to think about it.

____________________________________________

Shaking Tokyo

Directed by Bong Joon-ho

The story of a Tokyo shut-in or hikikomori (Kagawa Teruyuki) who has not left his apartment in a decade. He lives off of money sent by his father, and orders everything in, leaving stacks of his pizza boxes. He even falls asleep on the toilet next to the stack of toilet paper rolls. And he never watches TV, just reads and rereads old books.

Then one day is different when a beautiful young pizza deliver girl (Aoi Yu) with tattoos manages to catch his eye.

An Earthquake then happens and the girl faints into his apartment, and the hikikomori is stuck. He has to help her, but doesn’t want to touch her. He gets her water. Then sees that she has tattoos, and finds one for coma, and pushes it, and she instantly wakes up. Asking if he pushed the button. She walks around his apartment, declaring it perfect, except one of his stacked pizza boxes is upside down, which he fixes. She then leaves, but he is totally and utterly in love with her.

The hikikomori excited calls to get her to deliver pizza again, but finds a gruff older man (the great Takenaka Naoto) who barges in and uses the phone, scaring the man badly. It turns out he is the owner, and the girl just quit, leaving him to deliver Pizza by himself.

The hikikomori realizes that she is a new Hikikomori, and is becoming a shut in, and decides he must go see her, and save her from a life of lonliness.

The man slowly heads out across the city, scared of his own shadow and the sunlight, but he manages to find her place, just as another Earthquake hits.

He manages to get her to open the door, but she won’t come out, until he grabs her arm, and hits her tatoo for love. Leaving them both hopelessly in love.

•••

Very strange, but enjoyable. Amazing that people like this exist, and a cute love story using these trappings. fun.

____________________________________________

Overall a very strange set of films. You might want to see them, but don’t expect to be blown out of the water, and I would recommend skipping Merde all together!