Tokyo Godfathers (2003)

“As with the greatest animated films, the triumph of Kon’s work lies not just in its beauty and singularly sophisticated storytelling but in how that beauty and storytelling combine to give the films a sting so human you can forget you’re watching a cartoon.” — Manohla Dargis, Los Angeles Times

SYNOPSIS

Christmas miracles arrive in the unlikeliest of places in Satoshi Kon’s Tokyo Godfathers, an eccentric holiday fable that finds tenderness, humor, and unexpected grace amid the forgotten corners of Japan’s sprawling capital. On Christmas Eve, three unhoused companions (Hana, an exuberant transgender woman; Gin, a hard-drinking alcoholic; and Miyuki, a runaway teenager)  discover an abandoned infant and embark on a frantic journey across Tokyo to reunite the child with her parents. Inspired by John Ford’s 3 Godfathers, Kon’s third feature exchanges the psychological labyrinths of Perfect Blue and Millennium Actress for a spirited mixture of screwball comedy, urban melodrama, and Dickensian coincidence. As the trio encounters gangsters, estranged relatives, and a succession of improbable twists of fate, their search gradually exposes the private wounds that brought them together. Alternately uproarious and heartbreaking, Tokyo Godfathers discovers the true spirit of Christmas in the makeshift families and unexpected acts of compassion that sustain those society has left behind.