★★★ (out of four stars) In Japan, animation is not considered the exclusive domain of children's and family movies, but is often used in adult, sci-fi, and action movies. In these films, animation gives a freedom that cannot be achieved in real life. Some Hollywood movies go so far as to challenge the constraints of reality that you wish they might as well be animated. Now it's "The Godfather of Tokyo," a harrowing and heartwarming animated film about a story that will never be remade by Disney. It's about three homeless people - an alcoholic, a drag queen and a girl around 11 - who find an abandoned baby in a rubbish heap on a cold Christmas Eve and spend the Days to find her home. The film's title hints at John Ford's "3 Godfathers," in which three outlaws (starring John Wayne) rescue a baby from a dying mother on Christmas Eve and try to raise it He, at one point, used lube oil instead of baby oil. The three urban homeless live in snow-covered Tokyo, where they built a makeshift shelter out of cardboard and plywood and outfitted it with all the comforts of home, like a portable stove. Here, they form a family, but each has a story to tell, and in the movie, they tell it all.
The alcoholic Ah Yin claims to be a cyclist who abandoned his family after losing everything in gambling. A Hua, a transvestite, has felt that she is not accepted by society since she was born. The little girl Miyuki runs away from home after a fight with her father. Others told her that she should go home, but she dared not. The baby's cry then warns them, and their rescue of the little girl advances the story, inspiring each of them to discover the beauty and strength within themselves. The film is written and directed by Toshi Kon, whose "Mima's House" and "Millennium Actress" are among the most recognized and popular Japanese animation works. Unlike Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro), his style is not close to full-motion animation, but instead uses the simplifications found in most animations, simple backgrounds, and stylized The way the characters move and speak, doesn't come close to realism. If you watch this style for 30 seconds, you might think it's unnatural, but in a feature film, it's more and more you like it, you accept it, and your imagination expands it to an acceptable version of. The film's story is an infectious melodrama, with occasional thrilling action and a lot of coincidence. The streets of Tokyo appear empty and bleak as three godparents protect the child and finally set out to find her real parents. The stories involving these parents are more complicated than we thought. In an abandoned house, in an alley where homeless people live, in a pharmacy, there are scenes of desperation and others that are surprisingly warm, gradually leading to a sensational ending and a compelling A development in which two lives are saved in a way that can only be achieved in animation. "The Godfather of Tokyo" is not for younger audiences, and I know some older audiences who don't like to be patient with Japanese adult animation movies. But there is a world out there waiting to be discovered. Sometimes, like this movie and the great Grave of the Fireflies, their themes are so harrowing that only animation makes them possible. If a live-action movie puts a baby on this adventure, I don't think I'll watch it.
View more about Tokyo Godfathers reviews
