Wish You Were There - Tokyo Pop (1988)

 Tonight at the venerable Trylon Cinema, I was able to make it out to a one-off screening of Tokyo Pop (1988) as part of the monthly Sound Unseen screenings. Directed and co-written by Fran Rubel Kuzui (known better in this corner of the world for directing Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Tokyo Pop is the story of a New York rocker, Wendy, who makes off with her bandmate boyfriend's rent money to seek her musical fortune in Japan when it's clear he'll never elevate her star past backup singer. While she flounders at first, Wendy is able to begin to find her footing - especially after meeting Hiro, a young Japanese musician, who is also seeking success while hoping to maintain his personal and artistic integrity along the way. While Tokyo Pop received critical praise upon release it had fallen into relative obscurity and was only recently restored and re-released thanks in part to contributions from Dolly Parton, The Jane Fonda Women Directors' Fund, and Carol Burnett (mother to Carrie Hamilton who played Wendy in the film). 

I suppose the first thing to tackle is the music: there is lots of it and it wasn't always to my taste. Diamond Yukai (who plays Hiro) and Carrie Hamilton perform all of their songs themselves and while both are very capable singers, that doesn't save the somewhat saccharine covers of American pop and rock songs. However, pop music didn't prevent me from being swept up by the romantic energy of the film and in fairness to the characters - they both yearn to perform their own music and resist their newfound success as "not rock n' roll." Both Hamilton and Yukai are incredibly charming, have truly fantastic wardrobes, and I thought their chemistry together worked rather well despite any language barriers. Hamilton gives a standout performance and her physicality - tall with short-cropped peroxide blonde hair - cuts a striking figure against the Tokyo streetscape. Speaking of which, the 99 minute runtime is virtually all spectacular location footage of 80s Japan: arcades, marketplaces, train stations, shrines, love hotels, nightclubs, fishing docks, restaurants, and more are all immaculately captured (Rubel Kuzui was a Tokyo transplant herself and it shows). I have nothing to compare it to, but the restoration looked amazing to my eyes. There's also an element of cultural time-capsule to Tokyo Pop. Though they sadly do not perform - X Japan appears a couple of times in the film. The incident that initially sparks Wendy and Hiro's success takes place behind the scenes at an All Japan Women's wrestling event that features rising stars Bull Nakano and Aja Kong. I also have to make a special note of the appearance of Tetsurô Tamba as agent/record producer Mr. Dota. Though he doesn't have a huge part in the film, his onscreen charisma shines through. Clearly evidence of a massive career starring in everything from historical epics, to pinky violence, to You Only Live Twice (the Trylon will be screening Three Outlaw Samurai which features Tamba early next week). 

Kino Lorber Repertory is handling distribution for this restoration of Tokyo Pop and I would highly recommend catching it theatrically if you can. I am also very hopeful that this will see a physical release and find its way to streaming. While this isn't necessarily the kind of film I usually obsess over, I would be genuinely interested in a physical copy - particularly with some robust special features. I found it to be very sweet and I think it serves as a remarkable cultural document. Maybe I could lure unsuspecting friends to a double feature with the somewhat more lurid Death Ride to Osaka or even Lost in Translation  which also contains and Diamond Yukai appearance.