FIRST LOOK

First Look: Gondry's, Carax's, and Joon-ho's Tokyo Triptych

by Alex Billington
February 16, 2008
Source: Twitch

There's a certain indie project that I've been very excited for since we first mentioned it almost a year ago. The film is called Tokyo and it's a triptych that will feature three short films shot in Tokyo, Japan and about Tokyo. Michel Gondry (of Science of Sleep and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Leos Carax (of the French film The Lovers on the Bridge), and South Korean director Bong Joon-ho (of The Host) are each directing a segment. All three of the directors have already finished filming their scenes and the first promo photos from each segment have been revealed.

Bong Joon-ho explains that "it will be just like 'New York Stories' but set in Tokyo." The filmmakers will be given liberal access to city locations in return for the Tokyo-centric subject matter. Each segment will be around 30 minutes, making for a complete 90-minute film.

Shaking Tokyo
Directed by Bong Joon-ho. Teruyuki Kagawa plays a man who has been living as a shut-in for the past 11 years, until he ends up falling in love with a pizza delivery girl, played by Yu Aoi. He finally builds up the courage to join the outside world, only to discover that most of Tokyo has become withdrawn.

Hiroko & Akira in Tokyo
Directed by Michel Gondry. A woman from Hokkaido comes to Tokyo with her boyfriend, who is aiming to become a movie writer. However, she has no purpose of her own. One day, she notices that part of her ribs are turning into wood.

Merde
Directed by Leos Carax. The story is about a man who appears from the sewers in unexpected places. An incident leads to his capture, which is met with mixed reactions by the townspeople.

You may be asking, why the heck would anyone care about this movie? My original interest came from seeing Tokyo presented in Babel. The scenes set there in that movie really made me want to visit the city. Then after hearing about who was involved in this project, I was instantly attracted. The concept is so unique and so cool. You don't see cinematic triptychs all too much. You may see a movie comprised of shorts, like Paris, Je T'aime last year, but this is still a bit different. I'm very interested in seeing how each of the directors used the locations of Tokyo and how their respective films turned out - this could really be something incredible.

Thanks to Twitch for helping out with the story descriptions and the photos. The guys over there certainly seem to be as excited as I am to see this.

Tôkyô! does not have a US distributor yet, but expect it to premiere at film festivals like the Toronto Film Fest later this year. Know that I'll be seeing it as soon as I can at whatever the cost! Even if I have to fly to Japan to see it.

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