TOKYO!

Last evening, I watched TOKYO! a film of 3 shorts, Interior Design by Michel Gondry.

The first film held my attention considerably. It was about a young woman, whom under dire circumstances, gains the ability to turn into a chair. Driving outside in the rain, the female protagonist Hiroko with her director boyfriend are looking for a place to stay in Tokyo. They put up temporarily at her friend's small apartment. A series of pressurising events follow as they look for a place to stay with little success. The boyfriend takes up a gift-wrapping job to pay a parking fine, and meanwhile their car and filming equipment are towed away. After a screening of the film, Hiroko finds herself a liability as 'the girlfriend' as the boyfriend gets his shot at fame.


Merde was a rather eccentric film, showing how an eccentric character can inject mass mayhem onto the streets of Tokyo. This disgustingly foul, bearded man with a milky eye emerged from the sewers, walking in an uncharacteristic gait grabbing anything in his path. He was captured subsequently with draggy court proceedings. The effect on the masses were pro-merde and anti-merde groups that were reminiscent of human rights activists. And a possible sequel? Oh No!


Shaking Tokyo is about the life of a hikikomori and how he decides to go after a pizza end delivery girl one day, only to find out that she's another hikikomori. This strange subculture is explored in detail. I can't believe ppl can lead such sad, antisocial lives. And only in the advent of a disaster, such as an earthquake, be temporarily awakened to reality.