Tokyo Godfathers [dir. Satoshi Kon]

Occasional violence notwithstanding, Tokyo Godfathers - Satoshi Kon's 2003 Xmas themed movie - is his most family-friendly effort. The title is a hat-tip to John Ford's 1948 Western Three Godfathers, in which a trio of thieves led by John Wayne are landed with the care of an orphaned infant.

Kon's heroes are three hobos that find the baby while scavenging in a dumpster. Hana the melodramatic transgender is overjoyed at the prospect of being a 'mother' although it is soon clear that she is less prepared for the practicalities than the middle-aged taciturn alcoholic (ha!) 'Gin', who has a tragic backstory that may not necessarily be true. Rounding out the trio is morose teenage runaway Miyuki.

Initially, Gin and Miyuki want to hand the baby girl over to the police, while Hana - who names the child Kiyoko - is determined to raise her, even if it means striking out on her own. They reach a compromise in deciding to hand the girl back to her parents using the meager clues they find to their identity. Their winding journey includes meeting a mafioso, bearing witness to an assassination and learning about a former bar girl that may be Kiyoko's mother. In this process they also learn more about each other and about their own selves.

Kon is normally known for bizarre dream-logic enterprises like Perfect Blue, Paprika and his series Paranoia Agent. His 2001 fictional biopic Millennium Actress - which traces the life of a former film star, and in the process gives a history of the Japanese film industry - was the closest he had till then got to a conventional drama. Tokyo Godfathers is again a more grounded narrative, remaining in a real world, albeit one with some very colorful characters. While Kon does not sugarcoat the melancholy of his characters, this is ultimately a film of hope, and that is what Xmas season is all about, isn't it?