Tokyo: Finally!

Yesterday I went and saw Tokyo at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago after waiting for it to come out for months.  I was not disappointed, the 3 directors (Michel Gondry, Leos Carax, Bong Joon-Ho) each lent their unique take on the city and its inhabitants and ended up with a very interesting triptych.  If you're not into artsy films you probably won't like this but the concepts are wonderful, particularly Gondry's section.  The film will leave you claustrophobic in the beginning and yet the final piece on Tokyo's introverts leaves you isolated.  Like any good triptych, the thread is there between them yet doesn't hit you over the head with obviousness. 

Some of the side concepts of the films were better than the originals.  The girl with the "buttons" on her skin entitled "hysteria", "headache", "coma" were so interesting that they could have been their own film and left me wanting to head to the tattoo shop.  The movie within a movie idea that one of Gondry's characters comes up with to have flat ghosts between close set buildings was just charming.  

Oddly, Chicago was celebrating St. Patrick's Day yesterday so I had my own strange juxtaposition to deal with.  I was so exited to see this movie that we got there 5 hours early and hung out at a tapas place that was decked out in Irish gear until it started.  Overall, I liked it but don't expect it to be like Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.