Loosely based on the 1913 novel, The Three Godfathers, Tokyo Godfathers follows three homeless people – Gin, a former bicycle racer; Hana, a trans woman who used to work as a drag queen; and Miyuki, a runaway young girl – who live together in Tokyo.
On Christmas Eve, the three discover a baby girl in a garbage dump. They name her Kiyoko, and vow to care for her as they track down her family.
They head for the brighter parts of the city, where people are enjoying the holiday festivities, and while these three forgotten members of society band together to search for the baby’s parents, encounters with seemingly unrelated events and people force them to confront their own haunted pasts, as they learn to face their future, together.
Over the years, the late-great director Satoshi Kon became one of the most respected names in anime, with critically-acclaimed and groundbreaking features of reality vs fiction in films such as Perfect Blue and Paprika. Sadly passing away in 2010 (aged 46), Kon left a legacy that has inspired many filmmakers in both Japan and Hollywood.
Here, with his third and penultimate feature, Kon delivered a masterpiece that is at once heartfelt, hilarious and highly original, in a tale of hope and redemption in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.
- Words by
- Joe Harris
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