Plantiana Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Artivels Undescribable Perfection

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

sitenoise Mami Nakamura's performance makes this one a big winner. She's engaging, endearing, amusing, and sympathetic from start to finish. That's what it takes for a small film like this to succeed, a film which says: "Here's an offbeat character, do you like her? Does she draw you into her life, entertain you, and invite you to wonder what will happen to her?" It takes a clever script and a good performance. Tokyo Trash Baby delivers on both accounts.Miyuki (Nakamura) is a girl in love with her upstairs neighbor, a musician. Instead of trying to meet him she is content with stealing his garbage and foraging through it to find things that will give her insight into his personality. She collects many things, like empty cereal boxes, cigarette butts, love letters, discarded musical scores, and creates a shrine to her love in her apartment. She discards a used condom. The story falls a little flat after she does eventually meet him face to face, but Miyuki is still fun to spend time with. As are the few peripheral characters in the film.Tomorowo Taguchi plays the manager at the café where Miyuki works and is typical Taguchi odd but doesn't have much impact on the story. Two other characters do, though: Kô Shibasaki plays co-worker, Kyoko, whose screen time is devoted almost exclusively to telling Miyuki stories of her sexual conquests, dreams, and dilemmas ... and bumming smokes. Masahiro Toda plays a customer trying desperately to get Miyuki to go out with him but he's too boring to make an impact on her. His attempts at realizing love are face to face but his loneliness prevents him from catching a clue. Both characters serve as juxtaposition to Miyuki and highlight my favorite theme of the film: loneliness. Kyoko has a very active social life but seems unfulfilled and lost. Miyuki (contrary to most observations on the film) doesn't seem lonely. She seems content and happy with her life. That's what makes her interesting. Director Hiroki gives her the respect she deserves.Tokyo Trash Baby is part of the Love Cinema series of six straight-to-video releases which also includes Takashi Miike's Visitor Q. It's a low-budget affair shot on Digital Video. It's uses all natural lighting and sometimes the glare from an open window distracts but never gets in the way. It's testament to the strength of the story and performance that technical limitations do not derail the project at all.★★★★★

acerk21 When describing Tokyo Trash Baby, the words "weird", "gross" and "disturbing" come to mind. There are definitely a few problems with this film....For one, the English subtitles are horrendous containing many grammatical errors and misspelled words which get a little annoying after a while. Second, there are a few long and meaningless shots that go on forever and serve no purpose other than to suggest that the movie is more artistic than it really is. And lastly, the whole production of the film had that cheap quality to it mainly because of the low budget camera they were using. With all that said, I still really enjoyed this movie. I was engrossed the whole time watching it and for some odd reason, really started to care about the main character towards the end of the film. Also noteworthy is the strange music and the eerie mood that was established throughout. I know that the majority will absolutely loathe Tokyo Trash Baby, but if you're a little peculiar yourself and have the patience, then this movie is certainly recommended.

followingfleet I actually found this movie fascinating. It had nice shots and the lead actress was captivating. The protagonist showed sanity in her insane little world. The plot wasn't in the foreground here, it was more an exploration of character, and i couldn't stop watching it. There were a few frustrations, mostly to do with the plot, but it made up for all that with the use of the cute lead. It has a really made-at-home sort of look which i usually don't go for, but it worked. Perhaps some of the shots went on a minute too long, but the point got through. The ending was a little slow to deliver but the movie as a whole was still interesting and worth a watch. Maybe just for those with patience.

d0ppelganger The title of the movie comes from the fact that the lead female character Miyuki, played by the delightful Mami Nakamura, goes through garbage. Not just general garbage, but that of Yoshinori, a musician/rock star played by Kazuma Suzuki.Miyuki works as a waitress in a small cafe and lives in a tiny apartment, a very dead end for a very young woman like herself. Her only delight in life comes from having a *huge* crush on Yoshinori living in the same building. She is too timid to actually strike up a conversation with him, so she resorts to going through his garbage looking for mementos and insights to the man. She is a scavenger and a stalker.An interesting twist of this film is that there is another stalker. A male patron to her cafe has a crush on Miyuki. Unlike her this person is a much more vocal stalker, he actually asks her out on strange dates. What makes him a stalker is that he wouldn't take 'no' as an answer.As the stage is set, the film investigates Miyuki's strange world. There are quite a few twists and turns related to the thing she finds in the garbage and to her own stalker. The most intelligent part of the film, from the perspective of the screenplay, directing and the acting, is on her reactions to all those. The loneliness of modern life (or towards modern Japan in particular?), lust and shame find concrete manifestation in Mami Nakamura. You have to see to believe it.