Tokyo Godfathers (2003)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Directors:

Satoshi Kon
Shôgo Furuya (co-director)

Writers:

Satoshi Kon (screenplay)
Satoshi Kon (story)

Release Date:

8 November 2003 (Japan)

Genre:

Adventure | Animation | Drama | Comedy

Tagline:

Meet the ultimate dysfunctional family.

Plot:

Christmas in Tokyo, Japan. Three homeless friends: a young girl, a transvestite, and a middle-aged bum...

Plot Keywords:

Transvestite | Baby | Christmas | Tokyo Japan | Yakuza

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Toru Emori	...	Gin (voice)
Aya Okamoto	...	Miyuki (voice)
Yoshiaki Umegaki	...	Hana (voice)
Shôzô Îzuka	...	Oota (voice)
Seizô Katô	...	Mother (voice)
Hiroya Ishimaru	...	Yasuo (voice)
Ryûji Saikachi	...	Aged Man (voice)
Yûsaku Yara	...	Miyuki's Father (voice)
Kyôko Terase	...	Sachiko (voice)
Mamiko Noto	...	Kiyoko, Gin's Daughter (voice)
Akio Ôtsuka	...	Doctor (voice)
Rikiya Koyama	...	Bridegroom (voice)
Satomi Koorogi	...	Kiyoko, the Gangster's Daughter (voice)
Mitsuru Ogata	...	Hidenari Ugaki (voice)
Chiyako Shibahara	...	Eriko Kawasaki (voice)

Also Known As:

Ükskord Tokyos (Estonia) (festival title) [et]
Héroes al rescate (Argentina) (video title) [es]
Oi nonoi tou Tokyo (Greece) (DVD title) [el]
Tokyo godfathers - löytölapsen arvoitus (Finland) (TV title) [fi]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, violent images, language and some sexual material.

Runtime:

USA:92 min | Argentina:93 min | UK:88 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | Spanish | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:12 | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Sweden:7 | USA:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | UK:12 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Spain:13 | Singapore:PG

Company:

Mad House

Trivia:

The film is full of "12-25" (Christmas) references, including: The number on the key; the cab fare; the address in the newspaper ad; the cab license plate.

Quotes:

Gin: [Gin throws a book from the garbage dump at Miyuki and hits her in the face]
Hana: What are you doing to Dostoyevski?

Movie Connections:

References Star Wars (1977)

charming urban fairytale

This strikes me as a movie you will either accept whole-heartedly or trash whole-heartedly. It is shamelessly sentimental and is built on a series of absurd coincidences, but the amazing thing is it all works. The coincidences could feel like a shameless plot device but instead there is just a sense of wonderful magic, as though somehow the foundling the movie is built lives an oddly charmed existence that transforms the lives of those around it. The movie does a wonderful job of making its characters both broad but human. This is not one of those cheesy movies that make homeless people seem ultimately wiser and nobler than the rest of us, but while they are all deeply flawed they all have a redeeming warmth. The movie is both very funny and very touching, and is really about the miracle of love in a world of harsh realities. If you're not willing to totally suspend your disbelief and give in to the movie's blatant flouting of all concepts of reality then you'll probably hate it, but if you want a charming fable this is a great choice.