I don’t much care for “omnibus” films. Has there ever been a truly good one? New York Stories from the late 80s has an awesome short by Scorsese, a mostly-awesome short by Woody Allen and a piece of dreck from Francis Ford Coppola. And they had nothing to do with one another in content or form. And that might be the best one I’ve ever seen.
Until now. Tokyo!, by three non-Japanese directors, also features three stories that have no connection to one another. However the three stories are really fantastic.
Gondry’s short is straight-up Jules et Jim new wave/new lovers experiencing art and troubles in the big city.
Bong’s short kinda rips off the work of Kerry Douglas Dye and Jordan Hoffman, featuring a man who never leaves his apartment and falling in love. But it trades the noir elements for existential symbolism.
The real find is in the middle – Leos Carax’s absurdist tale Merde!. It is a tweak on the Godzilla paradigm. Something emerges from the sewers. In this case it is a stinking madman (Dennis Levant) who eats flowers and cash and talks in gibberish. That description makes little sense, I know, but you just kinda have to see it. It is one of the greatest performances ever.
I loved this film. My favorite segment was Merde and I didn’t know that it was based on Godzilla. I heard the DVD comes out June 30th and I can’t wait to get it!