Gondry and Carax do "Tokyo"

"My film is more about the exclamation point than Tokyo," quipped French filmmaker Leos Carax (right), at a brief, and enjoyably awkward Q & A session following the New York premiere of "Tokyo!" at the Japan Society on Monday night in New York City. A snowstorm earlier in the day didn't deter a large crowd from filling the East Side theater, but fellow "Tokyo!" filmmaker Michel Gondry (left) was delayed getting in from LA so he and Carax stood on stage after the screening to take a few questions. As Carax whimsically noted, the three films -- by he, Gonrdy, and Bong Joon-Ho -- didn't have a lot to do with the city itself, but were all set in the Japanese capital. As for Carax, in an indieWIRE interview 9 years ago, he proudly proclaimed, "I don't think I'm a cineaste. I don't think I'm a filmmaker. I happen to make films sometimes, not many, and not often. I don't think I have anything much to say about it." While in a new iW interview published today, he noted, "I feel that cinema is my country. But it's not my business. I haven't worked enough, and I don't get along with people enough to make it my business. Sometimes I feel like there should be an obligation to produce people like me. There shouldn’t be a choice." The film opens this Friday.