'Directors
Michele
Gondry,
Bong
Joon-ho,
and
Leos
Carax
each
direct
a
segment
of
this
triptych
feature
about
life
in
21st
Century
Tokyo.
The
saga
begins
in
Gondry's
segment
entitled
"Interior
Design,"
about
a
young
couple
who
moves
in
with
an
old
friend
while
attempting
to
establish
themselves
in
Tokyo.
Hiroku
(Ayako
Fujitani)
and
Akira
(Ryo
Kase)
have
just
arrived
in
the
city.
They're
eager
to
launch
their
careers,
but
first
they'll
have
to
find
a
place
to
stay.
Though
Hiroku's
old
friend
Akemi
(Ayumi
Ito)
opens
her
doors
to
the
ambitious
young
couple,
her
boyfriend
isn't
exactly
thrilled
by
the
new
living
arrangement.
As
Akira
takes
his
first
steps
toward
becoming
a
filmmaker,
the
neon
jungle
beckons
to
Hiroko.
Before
long,
Hiroko
begins
to
experience
a
startling
metamorphosis
that
instills
her
with
a
newfound
sense
of
peace
and
purpose.
The
second
chapter,
Leos
Carax's
"Merde,"
follows
the
debased
exploits
of
an
unsightly
subterranean
creature
(Denis
Lavant)
who
emerges
from
the
Tokyo
sewers
to
taunt
and
torment
the
unsuspecting
denizens
of
the
city.
Stealing
cash,
pilfering
cigarettes,
frightening
old
ladies,
and
even
going
to
far
as
to
salaciously
lick
schoolgirls,
the
gibberish-spewing
troublemaker
dubbed
Merde
sparks
a
media
frenzy
that
sends
all
of
Tokyo
into
a
panic.
The
situation
spirals
as
Merde
discovers
an
arsenal
of
hand
grenades
in
his
underground
lair,
and
begins
throwing
them
in
the
streets
at
will,
creating
an
environment
of
total
urban
terror.
Later,
Merde
is
apprehended
and
pompous
French
magistrate
Maître
Voland
(Jean-François
Balmer)
arrives
to
defend
the
deviant
in a
Japanese
court.
The
only
person
capable
of
speaking
his
client's
unintelligible
language,
Voland
stands
at
the
center
of a
media
circus
that
soon
engulfs
all
of
Japan.
When
Merde
is
convicted
by
the
court
and
sentenced
to
death,
justice
takes
turn
for
the
surreal.
The
trilogy
winds
to a
close
with
Bong
Joon-ho's
"Shaking
Tokyo,"
in
which
a
reclusive
pizza
addict
who
hasn't
left
his
apartment
in
over
a
decade
falls
for
a
pretty
delivery
girl
at
the
very
same
moment
an
earthquake
hits
Japan.
A
so-called
hikikimori
who
never
dares
venture
outside,
the
lonely
shut-in
(Teruyuki
Kagawa)
subsists
almost
solely
on
pizza
delivery.
When
a
beautiful
delivery
girl
shows
up
at
his
door
and
promptly
faints
when
the
ground
begins
to
shake,
it's
love
at
first
sight.
Later,
the
agoraphobic
man
discovers
that
the
object
of
his
affections
has
become
a
hikikimori
herself,
and
boldly
ventures
out
of
his
apartment
in
order
to
declare
his
love.
The
moment
he
sets
eyes
on
her,
the
ground
starts
to
rumble
once
again.
-
Jason
Buchanan,
All
Movie
Guide