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Tokyo Godfathers
Studio: Studio Madhouse Format: Movie Released: 8/30/2003 Written by: Face 
Tokyo glistens, rattles, and jolts with a shrewd fortitude in Satoshi Kon's latest film, Tokyo Godfathers, based off a 1948 John Ford classic, 3 Godfathers. Unlike Ford's film, the rough-neck cowboys are replaced with a trio of vagabond misfits scourering the city for an abandoned childs' parents. It's a contemporary heartfelt urban fable about human virtues, and the struggles one faces on the road towards self-redemption. Despite it's ostentatious sentimentality, and the occasional spasmodic narrative gimmick, Satoshi has created a film that warms the heart while testing your witticism.
Gin, the crestfallen boozehound; Hana, a fruitcaked transvestite, and Miyuki, a temperamental teenage run-away live together in the cold-hearted city, together forming a helter-skelter like family. Late during Christmas eve night, they find a wailing baby buried beneath piles of refuse. Hana refuses to give up this once in a lifetime opportunity to be a mother of a child, and insists that they instead track down the mother who abandoned it. Through an odd series of events their adventure soon changes into a life-changing journey in which the characters finally manage to come to terms with their distraught pasts. Satoshi Kon doesn't simply distinguish his style by telling profoundly sagacious stories. But rather, singularizes himself by taking his movies to the next level, completely transcending the anime genre. Although, compared to Millennium Actress, this film appears to be all too commonplace, when in reality it is an exercise in the unconventional extremes, an intentionally mawkish farce of an hilarious vagabondage. However, it's Kon's intuitive sensibilities for the visual details, and the way he uses them to draw focus to the characters and the extensive environment that really exemplifies his ingenuity.  Take for instance the simple shot of an amiable doctor's steel leg-brace, which suggests that not only his benevolence, but his passion generates from his own disability. Details such as these are riddled throughout the film and subtly enhance the effect of the story, and the plights of the characters. Also note the way in which the backstories transpire: with renditions of schmaltzy predictable flashbacks; seemingly haphazardly, but Satoshi is aware of the film's maudlin sentimentality, and uses it to capitalize on off-beat moments of melodrama and turn them into spirited gut-busting shenanigans.
The city that has dazzled anime fans for years is shown in it's most raw vivid form yet, and from the eyes of the homeless, in which the darkside is revealed. It's mysterious, dangerous and remarkably well presented with exceptional detail. It's more than obvious that Satoshi Kon admires Tokyo, and in some ways uses this film as a tribute to the amazing Japanese capital city. It's a shame that it missed the pre-Christmas release date, but belated or not, Tokyo Godfathers is an enchanting Holiday tale that is destined for grandeur. * * * * (Very Good) Posted: January 25, 2004
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