Tokyo! (2008)
79%RT Audience Score: 72%
Awards & Nominations: NA
An imaginative, if uneven, love letter to a city that signals a great creative enterprise by its three contributing directors
Tokyo! is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get. But instead of chocolates, it’s three short films by three different directors. Some critics loved it, some hated it, and some were just plain confused. But one thing is for sure, Tokyo! is a wild ride through the streets of Tokyo, with each director offering their own unique take on the city. Whether you’re a fan of science fiction, fantasy, or just good old-fashioned storytelling, there’s something for everyone in Tokyo! So grab some popcorn, sit back, and enjoy the ride.
Production Company(ies)
Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions,
Distributor
Vitagraph Films
Release Type
Streaming, Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
TV-MA
Year of Release
2008
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital Dolby Atmos
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Aspect ratio:2.00 : 1
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Runtime:1h 52m
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Language(s):
-
Country of origin:Japan, Korea (South), France, Germany
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Mar 6, 2009 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 30, 2009
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Ryô Kase, Ayako Fujitani, Denis Lavant, Teruyuki Kagawa, Yû Aoi, Jean-François Balmer, directed by Bong Joon Ho, Leos Carax, Michel Gondry, written by Bong Joon Ho, Leos Carax, Michel Gondry, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Nicolas Rapold, Hank Sartin, Joshua Rothkopf, Kate Taylor, Philip Kennicott, Dennis Schwartz, Kelly Vance, Sonny Bunch, Fernando F Croce, Leo Goldsmith, Bill Gibron, produced by Michiko Yoshitake, MPAA rating, Tokyo, Japan, city life, surreal, love, loneliness, metamorphosis, sewer-dweller, manhole, pedestrians, trial, courtroom, pizza delivery woman, couple, solitude, exclamation point, city-centric, world-renowned auteurs, fantasy, science fiction, alienation, affection, hidden, disappearing, suppressed, luxury, love letter
Worldwide gross: NA
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Ayako Fujitani – Hiroko
Denis Lavant – Merde
Teruyuki Kagawa – The Man
Yû Aoi – Pizza Delivery Girl
Jean-François Balmer – Maître Voland
Bong Joon Ho – Director, Writer
Leos Carax – Director, Writer
Michel Gondry – Director, Writer
Michiko Yoshitake – Producer
Director(s)
Bong Joon Ho, Leos Carax, Michel Gondry
Writer(s)
Bong Joon Ho, Leos Carax, Michel Gondry
Producer(s)
Michiko Yoshitake
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (66) | Top Critics (26) | Fresh (50) | Rotten (16)
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.
October 20, 2014
Nicolas Rapold
Film Comment Magazine
TOP CRITIC
November 18, 2011 | Rating: 3/5
Hank Sartin
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
November 17, 2011 | Rating: 2/5
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Paris, New York and even Toronto have all gotten their due in a recent wave of city-centric omnibus films that let world-renowned auteurs run wild in their streets. Yet none of these yielded anything as strange or as idiosyncratic as Tokyo!
June 5, 2009 | Rating: 3/4
Jason Anderson
Toronto Star
TOP CRITIC
Perhaps it is inevitable as three foreign directors train their lenses on that unique island culture of the East that all three are propelled by fantasy or science fiction, and suggest more alienation from Tokyo than affection for the great city.
June 5, 2009 | Rating: 3/4
Kate Taylor
Globe and Mail
TOP CRITIC
All three films deal with things hidden, or disappearing, or suppressed. But Tokyo, if anything, becomes more of a mystery after Tokyo! than it was before.
April 9, 2009
Philip Kennicott
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
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.
November 9, 2011 | Rating: C+
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
All three screenplays were probably composed on the plane to Japan. With any luck, this trend will die out.
August 16, 2011
Kelly Vance
East Bay Express
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.
August 30, 2009 | Rating: 2.5/4
Sonny Bunch
Washington Times
Tickles, repulses, and beguiles
August 25, 2009
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion
Sandwiched between Gondry and Bong’s variously euphoric entries, Carax’s contribution seems either a work of deep cynicism from an inveterate party-pooper or a welcome satirical sour note from one of the great talents of 80s and 90s French cinema.
August 8, 2009
Leo Goldsmith
Reverse Shot
Some may consider it a callous critical evaluation. In truth, it’s nothing short of a luxuriant love letter.
June 21, 2009 | Rating: 4/5
Bill Gibron
PopMatters…
Plot
In 1999, When he was hired as a rookie reporter for Yomiuri Shimbun. As a cadet, he describes being taken under the wing of Sekiguchi, an older detective. Adelstein was initially assigned to “tacky” Saitama, and the memoir covers his next 12 years as a staffer for the paper, describing 80-hour work weeks, relationship difficulties, and the interactions between crime reporters and the police. Specific cases involve the search for the killer of Lucie Blackman, and the memoir also facts death threats after he published an expose on Tadamasa Goto. He also uncovered that Saitama Prefecture was altering scientific data on dioxin contamination.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film Tokyo! on Fresh Kernels.
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