Icarus Films will be joining forces with France’s premiere film production and distribution company, Distrib Films, on Feb. 22 for the domestic DVD debut of director Olivier Peyon’s Tokyo Shaking.
It is the winter of 2011 and Alexandra Pacquart (played by 13-times César Awards nominee Karin Viard — winner for Best Actress, Haut les Coeurs!, and twice for Best Supporting Actress … Little Tickles and Summer Things) has recently been transferred to Japan with her two young daughters by Crédit de France to do the dirty job of downsizing the Tokyo office — best to reduce staff there than it is to do so back in France.
She is like a fish out of water in this new environment, learning how to navigate Japanese society and customs. She is chided, ever so politely, that her pet dog cannot walk in the lobby of her apartment complex, she must have a baby’s stroller to come and go from the building. It is a little thing.
She is also a woman, most in authority in the business world in Japan are men. It is another “little” thing … but the little things are about to become enormous.
On March 11, going about her business of “downsizing,” Tokyo is slammed by a 9.0 earthquake, the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan. The office staff dive under the tables, take shelter where they can as the whole building shakes and shakes … fortunately they survive the quake.
Transfixed by the television images and the subsequent tsunami that ravaged coastal areas, the French executives with Crédit de France begin to make plans to abandon their Tokyo offices and head home. And then the real terror begins, the news erupts with stories that Fukushima is melting down … there is a crisis and suddenly Alexandra finds herself torn between running for safety in France or staying with her Tokyo staff.
Courage, duty … honor. While her fellow countrymen head for the exits, she stays, unsure of her future. The nuclear disaster; radiation could be upon them at any moment. Riveting … one of the best from France in 2021 and starring one of France’s best, Karin Viard.
Tokyo Shaking is presented in French, with Japanese and English portions, with English subtitles.
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