Tokyo Cowboy
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: D Film: B-
In Animé, we see the Japanese admiration of American Pop
culture, but the initial curiosity goes back to myths of the Old West. Ogawa (Hiromoto Ida) has romantic ideas of
how that can work and as a kid, even has a pen pal. When he decides to visit that pen pal Kate (Christina Hirt),
instead of a cowgirl, he meets a regular gal who happens to have a female
lover. Thus being the amusing odyssey
that is Kathy Garneau’s Tokyo Cowboy (1985).
Caroline Anderson’s screenplay actually sets the film in
the Canadian West, but the semantics mocked are definitely that of the
Hollywood Western, down to these moments being practically fantasy
sequences. The film never gets
heavy-handed either; the film subtly plays around with identity for comic
effect and is at least a pleasant film that has a deserved reputation the
critics gave it. It is very laid back
and has some amusing moments, but also, that it happened in the mid-1980s in
itself seems remarkable.
Though it does not go off into any directions that make it
serious or striking, it is a film where gender is playfully handled in a way
that makes sense and is consistently believable enough to sit through without
distraction. The more you consider
gender, the more interesting and amusing it becomes, but it should also be said
that this is the kind of independent film that we used to get all the time in a
creatively healthier film industry that is satisfying, laid back and smart. That’s a victory Tokyo Cowboy will
always be able to celebrate.
The full frame 1.33 X 1 image is fairly good for its age
and this format, but not with the clarity it might have had as an anamorphic
transfer. It is expected that this was
shot with at least 1.85 x 1 in mind and 16 X 9 HDTV ratio does not seem to hurt
the compositions by cinematographer Kenneth Hewlett is nice, including the
black and white Western fantasy sequences.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is a bit warped at the beginning and end of
the film, but is not bad for its age, but such distortions seem to surface more
often in Ultra Stereo analog recordings.
This was a system that was a bad carbon copy of Dolby already limited
A-type analog theatrical sound system from the late 1970s. This version has some healthy Pro Logic
surrounds and is lucky to be in the good shape its in. The only extras are two trailers, including
one for this film, but it would be nice to hear what the cast and crew have to
say about this film in reflection down the line.
- Nicholas Sheffo
