William Tremblay Tokyo!: Looking for a unique and memorable cinematic experience? Look no further. This triptych of 1h50 goes by so fast! The final scene comes somewhat too quick but leaves you with a lot talk about. Here's my ratings for the three shorts: Michel Gondry's Interior Design: charming interesting simple story with a punch line that will make you fall off your chair! 7/10 Leo Carax's Merde: Leo brought back his craziest character from the movie Holy Motors and this short had some dragging parts but was still better than the whole movie HM. 6/10 Finally, Bong Joon Ho's Shaking Tokyo is the best of the three. A peculiar but very captivating story about isolation and agoraphobia. 8/10

randy-377 It's hysterical to see people try to make something out of nothing. Tokyo was a bore. Period. If you have fast forward you will be using it because the first two segments are really boring and the last, which is beautifully photographed and acted, is also in its own way, a bore. Film makers who have nothing to say often to resort to obscure messages, oblique camera angles or surreal images. The first segment, in which the film makers takes on Hal David's notion that a "chair is just a chair" is ultimately just silly. From silly we move on to ridiculous with Merde, a forty minute waste of time about a man who lives in the sewers of Tokyo, is mentally challenged and upon finding some grenades, which he promptly and gleefully explodes in the streets, is arrested and eventually hanged. Attach to this thin premise some funny vocal musings and a "mysterious" ending and you a suddenly deep film about culture. Nonsense. If you believe this, I have piece of a toast with Christ's face in it which i would like to sell. The final film, "Shaking Tokyo" is beautifully photographed and acted, but it too is in the final revelation, not about much. This segment is forgiven because it is so tastefully acted by Teruyuki Kagawa, and how in the world the director got the streets of Tokyo without people is worth watching. Try as you may, these are seaweed thin morsels of film making, and attempting to attach meaning where there is none is what it is....fun.

8thSin I knew it was a series of short films by foreign directors, but I expected something better from the all-star Japanese cast in these films.The first segment "Interior Design" is a total trash. The two main characters' behaviors were completely un-Japanese and ludicrous. The 'spin the umbrella and jump' joke was so anime, it probably was copied from an anime series. The whole presentation with the chair and heroine was so generic that it felt like a work of a film school student trying to be creative, much like the failing filmmaker in this movie.The second segment "Merde"'s opening sequence was very solid, but the Gojira theme music playing in the background was ridiculous, and shows how little research was done on Tokyo and Japan for this film. The second havoc scene was produced with so little care that one of the dead victims was clearly breathing. The director also went overboard with the fake language and the crazy gesture that came with it. The actor who played Merde was brilliant, but the French lawyer's acting was so fake and corny. This short film would've been much better with more Merde action.The third segment, "Shaking Tokyo" was the only short film that had anything remotely related to exploring characteristics unique in Japan. I guess being the closest neighbor of Japan, a Korean director was the only one of the three who were qualified to describe Tokyo in a short film, and the only one who did any kind of research. Cinematography, Kagawa Teruyuki's narration, and depiction of this atypical (very organized) hikikomori were all really well-done, but the special effects in the Earthquake could've been done much better. This short film deserved much more budget since it starred A-list of Japanese acting like Kagawa Teruyuki, Aoi Yuu, and Takenaka Naoto. Although I liked the style of this film, it was too different from the previous two art-house style short films that created inconsistency as a whole.I guess this anthology was made for Western audience, but the first two segments were a joke to anyone familiar with Tokyo and Japanese films. In fact, those two films absolutely didn't need to be set in Tokyo or Japan. Only the Korean director made any attempt to tackle an issue of Japanese society. Considering the all-star cast these short films managed to gather, these short films were nothing but complete and utter failure.

mexomorph I saw this at FantasticFest 2008. This collection of strange tales is interesting. "Interior Design" I love Gondry's style, & his entry was enjoyable as expected - a girl feels she's lost her purpose in life, & changes accordingly. Great effect of her gradual transformation."Shaking Tokyo" Well done film - after 10 years indoors, a recluse man decides to go outside for the love of a recluse woman. Mostly narrated with thoughts of the man who has been cooped up too long. An interesting character piece, well acted and shot."Merde" This film starts off strong with an incredible opening sequence of continuous action for about 1/4 of a mile in the city, but when the character gets caught the story becomes a tiresome trial that no one understands, because there is lengthy "dialogue" in a fake language with no subtitles. could have benefited from being 10 minutes shorter.