Tokyo Godfathers

At first glance, I wasn't sure if I would like this movie. The "miracles DO happen on Christmas" cliché is very boring and I typically don't enjoy movies that employ it, but this is a very different kind of Christmas movie.

We are given three homeless characters with complex personalities and backgrounds, who are as endearing as they are repellent. They take up the task of caring for a baby they found in the trash, and trying to bring it back to its mother. We learn the secrets that made these people homeless, we learn about the workings of human shame and desperation, and we learn that "miracles DO happen on Christmas." But in the least cheesy way possible!

The plot is very slow-moving, but still, it is interesting and very carefully laid out. This would be a very compelling live-action movie, but the use of animation adds so much visual interest, particularly the expressive (and sometimes hideous!!) face of Hana, the gangly transvestite. The choice of music is unique and very fitting: the song played during a walking-around-the-city montage is reminiscent of Clockwork Orange.

Interesting and careful story, complex and realistic story, tremendous visual appeal and excellent music. I guess this movie pretty much has it all!

No spoilers - you just have to see it. Satoshi Kon continues his directorial success with Tokyo Godfathers. Like Perfect Blue and Millennium actress, TG wows the watcher immediately with the attention to detail. The scenes are exquisitely painted - when it is snowing you can almost smell it and feel the stillness. And the characters expressions convey emotions expertly by subtlety or caricature as occasion demands. Leave behind your Hollywood ideas of what a movie or worse, a cartoon should be. And then go see his previous two films as well. Satoshi Kon's films are true works of art.

Satoshi Kon's animation films are increasingly impressive with each new release. This movie is not only a technical masterpiece of the Japanese animation style, but can also rival a good independent live-action film in its storytelling. The film's plot also doubles as a social commentary about life on the fringe in Tokyo (not only the homeless but also cultural minority and the mentally disabled), from both the inside and the outside looking in. As a Westerner, I was astonished at how the homeless characters adapted to Japanese traditional practices for their survival.

The story of "Tokyo Godfathers" is much more compelling and heartwarming than Kon's previous films, "Perfect Blue" and "Milennium Actress", but the signature semi-realistic drawing style from his other films is still prominent. The discrepancies in movement between each character in the action sequences is particularly phenomenal. The backgrounds are intricate and perfectly painted. Note the art direction of the background buildings in some scenes to add even more connotation to the plot - sometimes they are more than what they seem!

Kon is the next Miyazaki, and I predict that he will continue to bring Japanese animation films to the international foreground years to come.

This strikes me as a movie you will either accept whole-heartedly or trash whole-heartedly. It is shamelessly sentimental and is built on a series of absurd coincidences, but the amazing thing is it all works. The coincidences could feel like a shameless plot device but instead there is just a sense of wonderful magic, as though somehow the foundling the movie is built around lives an oddly charmed existence that transforms the lives of those around it.

The movie does a wonderful job of making its characters both broad but human. This is not one of those cheesy movies that make homeless people seem ultimately wiser and nobler than the rest of us, but while they are all deeply flawed they all have a redeeming warmth.

The movie is both very funny and very touching, and is really about the miracle of love in a world of harsh realities. If you're not willing to totally suspend your disbelief and give in to the movie's blatant flouting of all concepts of reality then you'll probably hate it, but if you want a charming fable this is a great choice.

I honestly did not know what to expecting going into a viewing Tokyo Godfathers at the 2003 San Diego Asian Film Festival. It is the third film from Satoshi Kon, whose Perfect Blue was a creepy film that I liked and I am still awaiting to view Millennium Actress. Right from the start, Tokyo Godfathers was among the funniest animated features I had ever seen.

The film quickly draw comparisons to Three Men and a Baby as well as the idea of the three wise men. Three homeless folk with different, and perhaps strange, personalities find an abandoned baby on Christmas and make it their mission to find its parents. And right from the start, the three end up on these crazy adventures that is nothing short of funny.

Kon and fellow screen writer Keiko Nobumoto create a very witty film that at least provides endless laughter, even in moments that would normally be intense. At the same time, the provide a touching story of three people with nothing but the clothing on their bodies going out of their way to find the child's home.

If you get the chance, Tokyo Godfathers makes for the perfect holiday feature for everyone to watch. It is highly recommended and I hope the Academy takes serious consideration when viewing this film as it is among the eleven eligible for being nominated for next year's Best Animated Feature category.