Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Wild Tokyo! Portmanteau


I have always had a weak space in my heart for the anthology or pormanteau film, especially when there are a variety of short films by multiple international artists. I always approach them with as open a mind as possible. Marquee directors in an anthology can disappoint or reinforce. For instance, Gus Van Sant's segment of Paris, je t'aime was disappointing, Alexander Payne's was probably better than his About Schmidt. It can also be a medium for discovering someone new. For instance, also in Paris, je t'aime, Christopher Doyle's piece with Barbet Schroeder as a beauty products salesman introduced me to a unique and dynamic vision.

Tokyo! is a 2008 anthology consisting three short films. The marquee director is Michel Gondry, French oddball visonary of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Be Kind Rewind as well as many shorts and music videos. Leos Carax is a French filmmaker who was well-acclaimed for his first couple of features followed by some rockier periods. Completing the group is Bong Joon-ho from South Korea.

Besides the setting of Tokyo, there seems to be a common theme in these three stories. All somehow deal with a supernatural relationship between humans and objects or they consider the extremes of human existence somehow. You could almost subtitle this film three weird films on the extensible human condition.

I must be cautious here about giving away too much. Spoilers in features can be laid out in such a way that the damage is limited. This is much more difficult to parse when it comes to short stories or short films. I will mention, however that Bong Joon-ho's film Shaking Tokyo features a push button tattoo. I've said for years I would entertain the idea of body art or piercing, if it would be more utilitarian, if it would do something for me. Seems Mr. Bong and company have a similar idea.

Maybe most memorable in this trio of films is Carax's creation of Merde (which I understand means s--t in French) a green coated red headed bearded man with a milky eye and a strange gait who comes out of the sewers periodically to terrorize Tokyo residents and find flowers to eat. Merde's language, only understood by a lawyer who resembles him consists of grunts, arm movements and self-generated slaps to the face. Carax creates a situation which is filled with lots of opportunity for observations about public and media frenzy. This may just be the beginning: Merde may become the next mutant terror creature sensation among those who are entertained by such entities.

There is a kind of ephemeral aspect to portmanteau films. I can only really remember one of the New York Stories and then only because I had extended lively arguments with a female friend on whether or not the Nick Nolte character was a pained artist or a manipulative cretin. Tokyo!'s three experiences blend together but was overall pretty entertaining because it contained three pretty strong contributions from visual artists who did not deliver "normal" tales and visions.
posted by well-executed buffet at 1:28 PM
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