Tokyo Pop

Fran Rubel Kuzui

Film · Tokyo Stories: Japan in the Global Imagination

Friday, November 22, 7 PM

Followed by a Q&A with director Fran Rubel Kuzui and a reception

Bleach-blonde rocker Wendy (Carrie Hamilton) spontaneously hops on a plane from New York to Tokyo with dreams of making it big in Japan as a singer. Finding herself broke and alone soon after arriving, she takes up work at a hostess club before running into Hiro (Yutaka Tadokoro, Japanese musician Diamond Yukai), a grinning rock ‘n’ roll frontman with whom she eventually finds a romantic and musical connection. A largely forgotten gem of ’80s American independent cinema by Fran Rubel Kuzui (best known as the director of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 1992), Tokyo Pop takes us on a breezy tour through bubble era Tokyo, replete with tongue-in-cheek nods to the city’s American-influenced pop culture and a standout rendition of “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.”

1988, USA/Japan, 99 min., 35mm, in English and Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui. With Carrie Hamilton, Yutaka Tadokoro.

“You don’t have to be a fan of rock music to get a kick out of Tokyo Pop, a wedding of American and Japanese youth cultures as seen through a fun-house mirror.”

—The New York Times

Part of Tokyo Stories: Japan in the Global Imagination

Tickets: $14/$11 seniors, students & persons with disabilities/$10 members

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