Short of the Week
tokyo:glow 2

Tokyo/Glow

Time-lapse perfection illuminates a narrative about stepping outside the box—literally!

Do you know when your mind shifts? Yes, when you find yourself thinking over and over the same thing in an endless and reinforcing loop which feels depressing and unescapable, and then the magic: at one precise but undefinable moment your thoughts have nothing to do with the thoughts of the moment before. The loop is behind you, and before is a whole world of opportunities.

Now, who follows me at No Fat Clips!!! knows it: I often indulge in introducing the movies I post with passages quite unrelated to the film itself, while more connected with my feelings while watching it. And so it seems like I’m doing it again. But maybe not.

After all, Tokyo/Glow is, in a sense, about self discovery: a glitch occurs in the reality continuum (well, not really), and the traffic light man, the green one that tells people it’s time to walk, comes out of the box where he supposedly spent all his life since then, embarking in a voyage that brings new experience to him and wonderful imagery to us. Of course, I was hearing Queen’s “Innuendo” in my head while watching the short for the second time; you know, the part about surrendering your ego and being free with your tempo, which might have influenced this interpretation.

Directed by Jonathan Bensimon and produced at Canada’s Industry Films, Tokyo/Glow is actually a branded short film for shoe designer The Generic Man, even though I didn’t even realize it was sponsored by anything until I read it on ‘boards.

Tempo I was saying. Time and rhythm are perhaps the real protagonist of this short. The short uses the technique of the timelapse photography. But the light man is actually free with his tempo, slowly making his way in the city while the night life of Tokyo flows with its crazy speed all around him, aimlessly and purposelessly. Our illuminated friend, instead, seems to know exactly what to do, when and where to go.

The use of the light suit deserves a word on its own. While serving both the narrative (our hero was/is a light sign) and the concept of illumination (my interpretation, at least…), it is also a perfect visual device, allowing us to spot the man while he’s surrounded by thousands of other persons, and then inviting us to get ahold of that light ourselves, to stay focused on ourselves. To shine.

Or maybe I’m just reading too much into a commercial. Maybe you should just watch it yourself. And whatever will be, will be.

(Many thanks to Davide for the tip!)

~
hand-picked by
DeK is the force behind the indispensable No Fat Clips where he showcases his finds of the best "intrattenimento visivo breve" (short visual entertainment).
  • Drew

    Thanks for the insight, DeK! I actually interpreted the short a little differently, understanding the use of timelapse as a means to caricature the fast-paced world we live in. With everyone around him rushing from one destination to the next, the ‘Walk’ Man seems to appreciate a slower lifestyle in which life is made simple, stripped of its ambiguity and complexity. That last bit may seem like a stretch, but I felt that the final shot summed up his intentions well – to deny a world of lifeless automation and embrace something greater.

    Like you said, maybe that’s reading too much into a commercial. Either way, it’s always fun to read your analysis and compare mental notes. Thanks again for sharing!

  • http://subtitles.montages.no/2010/03/tokyo-glow-is-indeed-glowing/ Tokyo Glow is indeed glowing. | Subtitles to Cinema

    [...] As time has shown, this blog is (currently) mostly about sharing and commenting on brilliant web videos. And nothing wrong about that, yet I’m still planning on writing more about my own work. But, tonight I was not in the mood for talking about myself, so what better than making a discovery. [...]

  • http://dekku.nofatclips.com/2010/03/glow-of-the-week.html No Fat Clips!!! : Glow of the Week

    [...] a note to say that my review of Tokyo/Glow has been published on Short of the [...]

  • http://nofatclips.com/ DeK

    > embrace something greater.

    Or just embrace someone the right size :D
    I guess your simpler version is closer to [what we might call] the truth.

    Probably my feelings were driven by the fact that the man abandons his place in the semaphore, which seemed not the most sensible thing to do, a way to escape his duty. Hence the “surrender your ego” and all that comes with it. Which in the end made for something interesting to write about (and I hope to read too) without falling into the “Lady Gaga is an Illuminati who wants to control your mind” genre…

  • Andrew S Allen

    I am in Tokyo right now, and I cannot help but see this glowing man strutting through my head as I walk the glowing streets of Akihabara. I have seen some busy streets in NYC, LA, and elsewhere, but nothing like the massive crowds crammed into narrow streets on a sunny weekend afternoon in Tokyo`s Harajuku district. This film captures the wilderness of these crazy streets of Tokyo perfectly. Great pick, as always, my man DeK.