Tokyo Eyes

Given that Jean-Pierre Limosin is a French film critic and the director of documentaries on contemporary filmmakers such as Abbas Kiarostami and Takeshi Kitano, it's perhaps no surprise that his feature film Tokyo Eyes plays more like a piece of New Wave-inflected scholarship than an engaging film. Set in the oft-depicted urban wasteland of neon, virtual reality video games, and sterile public transportation, the film follows two lost teens. Hinano (Hinano Yoshikawa) is, at 17, already stuck in a job she hates, while K (Shinji Takeda) is a sexually ambiguous misfit who just happens to be terrorizing the city, shooting at and missing people with a specially designed gun while wearing vision-distorting goggles. As the police (including Hinano's brother) hunt for the man they call “Four Eyes,” the two disaffected teens find one another…and love. Although the leads have a sweet chemistry, Limosin's attempts to make his film fit the standards of the Japanese “kids aren't alright” genre drains Tokyo Eyes of any real spontaneity. Ultimately, this feels like the work of a smart filmmaker, but not a spirited one. Optional. (D. Fienberg)