Tokyo Pop

Wednesday, March 27 @ 7:30pm / NEIU — The Auditorium at NEIU — 3701 W Bryn Mawr Ave
Tickets: $10 at the door

TOKYO POP
Directed by Fran Rubel Kuzui • 1988
Tired of trying to make it in America (and of her loser boyfriend), aspiring rock and roller Wendy Reed moves to Tokyo and falls in love with Hiro, an unsuccessful musician (real-life successful musician Diamond Yukai). Wendy joins Hiro’s band The Red Warriors as lead singer, and the group of under-achievers gets their first taste of success. Tokyo Pop was inspired by Kuzui’s experiences as a film distributor in Japan, where she imported films like Stop Making Sense and Wild Style. “I looked at the films made by foreigners in Japan, and they seemed either romantic or macho. I didn’t see anything that included the joys of pop culture made on the streets.” Kuzui secured financing from Canadian production company Spectrafilm with the condition that she would find a reasonably well-known lead actress to boost eventual VHS sales. The reasonably well-known actress ended up being Carol Burnett’s daughter Carrie Hamilton, perfectly cast and plucked from the TV show Fame. The resulting film is a gorgeous love letter to Japanese pop culture that also addresses the fickle nature of success. Spectrafilm went bankrupt shortly after the film was released, and the original 35mm prints and elements were scattered to the winds. Recently digitally restored with funding from none other than Dolly Parton (uncredited producer of Kuzui’s other film, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), we’re pleased to present Tokyo Pop in a rare surviving original release print from our own collection. (JA)
99 min • Kuzui Enterprises • 35mm from the Chicago Film Society collection at the University of Chicago Film Studies Center, permission Kino

Watch a trailer for the film here

Preceded by: “Juke-Bar” (Martin Barry, 1990) – 10 min – 35mm

NEXT UP: SECONDS on Monday, April 1 at Music Box

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