Film Review<\/p>\n
TOKYO GODFATHERS<\/strong><\/p>\n Reviewed by Lyle Sylvander (Yokohama-shi, 2001-02) (Spring 2004 Issue of the JETAA NY Newsletter)<\/span><\/p>\n Since the release of Akira<\/em> in 1988, Japanese anime<\/em> has gained respectability in the United States by tackling more and more ambitious themes.\u00a0 The genre reached something of a pinnacle last year when Hiyao Miyazaki<\/strong>\u2019s Spirited Away<\/em> won the Academy Award for Best Animated Film and was picked up for domestic distribution by Disney.\u00a0\u00a0 Satoshi Kon\u2019s<\/strong> film Tokyo Godfathers<\/em> was released on the heels of that success.\u00a0 Unlike Miyazaki\u2019s film, however, Tokyo Godfathers<\/em> is a step backward and does little to advance the cause of anime as a serious art form.\u00a0 Satoshi Kon\u2019s film lacks the strength of character and command of narrative The basic plot of Tokyo Godfathers<\/em> offers a promising premise.\u00a0 Three homeless people discover an abandoned baby and seek to find its home.\u00a0 In the process, the audience learns much about the three characters and their own troubled pasts.\u00a0 If this plot sounds familiar, it is because it is based on the old John Ford<\/strong> film Three Godfathers<\/em>, starring John Wayne<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0 Kon has transplanted the story from the American Wild West to modern day Tokyo and has replaced Ford\u2019s overly sentimental style with a more reserved approach.\u00a0 While downplaying the melodramatic elements of the story may have been an initially wise decision, Kon\u2019s film ultimately fails to engage the audience and leaves one feeling emotionally uninvolved.<\/p>\n This story is a character-driven one and, as such, needs compelling characters to succeed.\u00a0 But Kon has supplied three clich\u00e9d characters lacking any psychological or emotional depth.\u00a0 Middle-aged Gin, for instance, is down on his luck ever since he lost his wife and daughter after throwing a bicycle race years earlier.\u00a0 One cannot help but think of Marlon Brando\u2019s character in On the Waterfront<\/em> yet the comparison falls short.\u00a0 It is difficult for an animated character to display the same level of pathos that Brando The conclusion won\u2019t be spoiled in this review, except to say that it is unconvincing and contrived.\u00a0 Not that the audience should care by that point.\u00a0 Nothing much happens in terms of plot and a series of episodes, such as a subplot involving gangsters and an immigrant family, is simply filler and serves no useful end.\u00a0 One imagines what could have been if Kon had explored the immigrant family\u2019s past \u2013 they have also left their home in search of something \u2013 and woven it into his plot in order to give it a dramatic thrust.<\/p>\n On the positive side, Tokyo Godfathers<\/em> offers some visually appealing backdrops.\u00a0 Tokyo is both a menacing and comforting presence in the film.\u00a0 The city\u2019s ugly modernism, including railroad tracks, telephone wires and cemented river banks are contrasted with the white falling snow and Christmas-like neon lights of Shinjuku.\u00a0 Even the warm orange glow of Tokyo Tower takes on an inviting look.\u00a0 Overall, one wishes that Satoshi Kon had found more suitable subject matter and a stronger narrative for his visual sensibilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Film Review TOKYO GODFATHERS Reviewed by Lyle Sylvander (Yokohama-shi, 2001-02) (Spring 2004 Issue of the JETAA NY Newsletter) Since the release of Akira in 1988, Japanese anime has gained respectability in the United States by tackling more and more ambitious themes.\u00a0 The genre reached something of a pinnacle last year when Hiyao Miyazaki\u2019s Spirited Away […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":59,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-386","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/PkZ7m-6e","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":388,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/386\/revisions\/388"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/59"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nnecessary to make its case.<\/p>\n
\nbrought to the role of someone living with regret and sorrow.\u00a0 Similarly, Hana is a transvestite who is temporarily allowed to become the mother he has always wanted to be.\u00a0 What\u2019s tragic about Hana\u2019s story is that he feels like a woman trapped in a man\u2019s body.\u00a0 This would have been an emotional backdrop worth exploring but Kon neglects to do this.\u00a0 The character that comes closest to engaging the audience\u2019s sympathies is the teenage runaway Miyuki.\u00a0 The one touching scene in the film occurs when Miyuki and her father accidentally cross each other on opposing trains during rush hour.\u00a0 The father wants to reach out for forgiveness and reconciliation but cannot in the madness and congestion of modern Tokyo.<\/p>\n