Tokyo!

Released Mar 6, 2009

1h 52m

Drama

List

76%

66 Reviews

Tomatometer

72%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Three distinct tales unfold in the bustling city of Tokyo. Merde (Denis Lavant), a bizarre sewer-dweller, emerges from a manhole and begins terrorizing pedestrians. After his arrest, he stands trial and lashes out at a hostile courtroom. A man (Teruyuki Kagawa) who has resigned himself to a life of solitude reconsiders after meeting a charming pizza delivery woman. And finally, a happy young couple (Ayako Fujitani, Ryô Kase) find themselves undergoing a series of frightening metamorphoses.

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Critics Consensus

An imaginative, if uneven, love letter to a city that signals a great creative enterprise by its three contributing directors.

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JeeHwan L

Michel 2.5 stars, Bong 3 stars, Leos 4.5 stars

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/02/23

Full Review

S. C

Trio of short movies taking place in Tokyo with each having strong themes behind them, it is quiet entertaining. It makes you think, not only because of the artistic portrayal but also because of the subliminal commentary. Michel Gondry's film. I loved the sets and their design. The acting is pretty neat. The authentic script really shines through it all. Nice score. Some nice cinematography and editing. Unexpected and creative at the end but still wholesome. Very well paced and structured. Loved how everything got build up from beginning to end. It's really good, and it even has the potential to be turned into a feature length movie when interpreting the ending in a less metaphorical but in a more realistic way. However the chair transformation works perfectly in this short. 9/10. Leos Carax' film. I liked some of the performances a lot. Sometimes very humourous. The cinematography is pretty good. Some nice editing. Loved the comparison to Godzilla and its references, even some noticable during the court scene in the microphone distortion. That sound effect was flawlessly built in. Such a plot and concept was very new to me. Refreshing. It got lots of energy and suspense. Mysteriously written lead character but the writing behind the character remains clear. A stingingly controversial yet harshly truthful message delivered. 7/10. Bong Joon-Ho's film. Incredible. Lots of attention to detail. Love the sets and the use of light. Great performance. Well done cinematography. Lovely score. I liked the narration. It was a wonderful little story. It was very relatable, as I am someone with similar troubles. It captures and knows how to present the struggles of such a person very well, and sometimes even without directly telling us with words. For example the sunlight being so exaggeratingly bright to the point that it looks dangerous.... The lead role having to process the interaction he just had for quite some time... Him getting really nervous and insecure as he goes out. It was all crafted with passion. Essentially the ending was very heartwarming. 9/10.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

09/22/23

Full Review

dave s

Tokyo! is a complex film dealing with the issues of isolation, dehumanization , love, and sundry other items, all with vibrant Tokyo as the backdrop. The movie, a triptych similar to New York Stories, is directed by Michael Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Leos Carax (Holy Motors), and Bong Joon-ho (Parasite), each handling a different segment, none of which are related, of the film. Each director puts his personal touch and applies his style to their segment with varying levels of success. Many viewers will no doubt be turned off by the surreal nature of each chapter and this is understandable, but for those willing to stick with it until the end, Bong Joon-ho's segment will leave the audience with a sense of hope and optimism, despite all that came before.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

nefasto r

As a triptic, I just have to consider each part separatly: - Gondry: 3.5 Stars, good, interesting and peculiar. - Carax: 1.5 Stars, skip it. - Joon Ho: 4 Stars, the best story for the best director. The simplest and yet most powerful of the 3 parts.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

john m

All three are wonderful. Leo Carax's stands out the most as one haunting and original masterwork of a short film. Gondry's is beautiful, but maybe not completely fully realized and Bong-Joon Ho's is a little over the top but nonetheless enjoyable. Worth seeing just to see Carax's, which I believe was the synopsis for "Holy Motors."

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

That was extremely weird but enjoyable.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

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Bong Joon Ho

Director

Leos Carax

Director

Michel Gondry

Director

Ryô Kase

Akira

Ayako Fujitani

Hiroko

Denis Lavant

Merde

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Nicolas Rapold

Film Comment Magazine

Gondry, Carax, and Bong work up three riffs not on Tokyo but on "Tokyo"-all reasonably diverting and offering distinctive curlicues on the title's exclamation point.

Oct 20, 2014

Full Review

Hank Sartin

Time Out

Rated: 3/5

Nov 18, 2011

Full Review

Joshua Rothkopf

Time Out

Rated: 2/5

Nov 17, 2011

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

My problem is that even though the three weird stories are intriguing and of interest in their own right, but when compiled as one film they seemed undeveloped.

Rated: C+

Nov 9, 2011

Full Review

Kelly Vance

East Bay Express

All three screenplays were probably composed on the plane to Japan. With any luck, this trend will die out.

Aug 16, 2011

Full Review

Sonny Bunch

Washington Times

If Tokyo! has a unifying idea, it's the devastating effect loneliness has on the psyche, an interesting choice given Tokyo's status as one of the world's densest cities.

Rated: 2.5/4

Aug 30, 2009

Full Review

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Synopsis

Three distinct tales unfold in the bustling city of Tokyo. Merde (Denis Lavant), a bizarre sewer-dweller, emerges from a manhole and begins terrorizing pedestrians. After his arrest, he stands trial and lashes out at a hostile courtroom. A man (Teruyuki Kagawa) who has resigned himself to a life of solitude reconsiders after meeting a charming pizza delivery woman. And finally, a happy young couple (Ayako Fujitani, Ryô Kase) find themselves undergoing a series of frightening metamorphoses.

Director: Bong Joon Ho, Leos Carax, Michel Gondry
Producer: Kenzô Horikoshi, Hiroyuki Negishi, Yuji Sadai
Screenwriter: Bong Joon Ho, Leos Carax, Michel Gondry
Distributor: Vitagraph Films
Production Co: Liberation Entertainment, Bitters End, Coin Film, Arte France Cinema
Genre: Drama
Original Language: French (Canada)
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 6, 2009, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 6, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA): $351.1K
Runtime: 1h 52m

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