Tokyo! is a 2008 anthology film containing three segments written by three non-Japanese directors, all of which were filmed in Tokyo, Japan. Michel Gondry directed “Interior Design”, Leos Carax directed “Merde”, and Bong Joon-Ho directed “Shaking Tokyo”. The last one centers on a man who has lived for 10 years as a hikikomori, (a term used in Japan for people unable to adjust to society and so they never leave their homes) and what happens when he falls in love one day with a pizza delivery girl. “Interior Design” follows the story of a wannabe movie director who arrives in Tokyo with his girlfriend only to find that parts of her bones are turning into wood. “Merde” concerns a hideous, Gollum-like humanoid that emerges from the sewers of Tokyo. After wreaking some mild havoc, the creature is captured and interrogated by the authorities. Merde, as this terrorist calls himself, baldly indicts the people of Japan as “disgusting,” and the ending suggests that future cities are ripe for harassment.
