Tokyo Godfathers (2004)

A less experimental & more grounded effort when compared to his earlier works, Tokyo Godfathers is a funny, poignant & melancholic story that unfolds without playing with the viewers' sense of reality but still packs enough twists n turns to keep them guessing.Taking place on Christmas Eve, the story of Tokyo Godfathers follows 3 homeless friends, a middle-aged alcoholic, a former drag queen & a runaway girl who while foraging through the garbage encounter an abandoned newborn and later set out to unite the baby with his parents.Co-written & directed by Satoshi Kon, his third feature film is a departure from his reality & imagination blending projects such as Perfect Blue & Millennium Actress but it still carries a sense of mystery that requires the full attention of its viewers, for the plot takes many unexpected turns before reaching its final outcome.The illustrations of the hand-drawn animation are slightly different as well but it's rich & finely detailed. Humour is sprinkled throughout the narrative but there is a somber tone to it as well. The mystery surrounding the baby's parents takes them on a series of adventures, and the ending provides a proper closure to the arcs of each one of them.Covering the themes of loss, family, abandonment, homelessness & forgiveness in a warm, accessible fashion and staying true to the Christmas spirit with a miracle that redeems all, Tokyo Godfathers unfolds at a much calmer pace than expected but the reward for sitting through it is a satisfying one. The film shows a different side of Satoshi Kon's creativity but it's another fine addition to his oeuvre.

Tokyo Godfathers is the story of three 'bums' and an almost supernaturally lucky baby. it has obvious parallels with the Western story of the three wise men and Jesus, but in this case Jesus is a girl. The bums are also far from wise but are, however, totally dedicated to the plight of the infant they find one evening, abandoned in the rubbish heap. The film follows their quest to reunite parents and child.What lifts this film into magical territory is that the lives of each of these homeless people would make personal day-to-day survival for most of us testing enough, without having to consider the continual needs of a baby. But in the end, this quest is what binds them together and gives each of their lives some meaning. Their personal stories unravel and are explained individually through flashbacks and chance encounters. Although the story is often carried along by inexplicable coincidence, it is tightly plotted and does not suffer from clunky dialogue or too much sentimentality (as can sometimes negatively affect Japanese films in my experience) -- in fact, the dialogue is superb throughout and often very funny.The music and drawing style are wonderful and the life of early 21st Century Tokyo is perfectly captured in the cityscape. The cold and often snowy plazas, streets, alleys and graveyards make for a fittingly inhospitable backdrop, which is at the same time imbued with a serene beauty. Also, the complete history of Japanese art seems to have been injected into the face of homeless transvestite, Hana, whose sudden and dramatic emotional outbursts are some of the highlights of the film. This is one of my absolute favourite films to watch around Christmas time and has my highest recommendation as an antidote to the usual CGI-heavy stuff that seems to be available these days. It has everything that makes a good adventure story, and depth and detail enough to reward re-watching. I've seen it three times now and it gets better every time.

Director Satoshi Kon took his inspiration, and part of his title, from Jon Ford's western 3 Godfathers (1948), in which three rough and ready outlaws find themselves caring for a baby. At heart it's a Christmas card to Tokyo, and expression of good will and a reminder to spread a little kindness in a world that is increasingly cold and intolerant. The film mixes comedy, drama, pathos and action. There are, of course, Christmas references galore. There are also references to a Tokyo many anime fans may find as incredible as Santa Claus. Kon reminds us this is no fairyland, but a real, living city with 21st century problems that no robot army can solve - shanty towns, tramps scavenging in graveyards, predatory teenagers beating up old men, and illegal immigrants scraping a living in the black economy. Above all else, though, there's a happy ending, without which no Christmas film could possibly be a Christmas film. It comes, not from any flashy bit of magic, but from the everyday miracles in the hearts of ordinary people whose humanity redeems their failings. Kon captures the beguiling neon glow of Tokyo in the film's many night scenes, turning the city into a magical setting for a tale of Christmas miracles.

Tokyo Godfathers, a 2003 Japanese anime from well known director Satoshi Kon (Paprika, Millennium Actress), is about an unlikely trio of homeless people that finds a baby abandoned on Christmas eve. Although the obvious inspiration for this story is John Ford's similarly titled 1948 Western Three Godfathers, the coincidence filled novels of Charles Dickens are an even greater influence. Like Dickens, Kon is interested in the lives of the poverty stricken. Also, Kon's film is just as full of incredulity straining coincidences and plot twists as well known Dickens novels such as Great Expectations. There are also some similarities to Dickens' Christmas Carol including numerous flashbacks and a character encountering what seems to be a future version of himself who offers him a second chance.Satoshi Kon's film is more than just a pastiche of his influences, however, he brings his own unique sensibilities to the table. For one thing, neither Dickens nor Ford would have dreamed of focusing a story on a transvestite who desperately wants to be a mother. The animation is always well done and it manages to draw just as much focus as the frenetically outlandish plot twists and turns. These narrative elements include chance encounters with figures from each of the three godfathers' pasts, an encounter with a yakuza boss and his would be assassin who only speaks Spanish, and a visit to a gender bending night club.Tokyo Godfathers does an excellent job of presenting its characters realistically and it even manages to be fair about some of their less savory actions. The film also comes close to working on an emotional level: there are some genuinely heart-warming moments but they are presented so quickly that their impact is lessened. Ultimately, this film has a few too many unlikely plot contrivances that go by a little too fast for it to be a great one but it works well enough often enough to make the film better than average.