Monday night, director Michel Gondry and actress Ayako Fujitani (from “Interior Design,” one of TOKYO!’s three segments) made a surprise appearance at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood for a private advance screening of TOKYO! The two participated in a post-film Q&A and stayed for the after party to mingle with fans and sip Sapporo. Needless to say, good times were had by all!

Gondry briefly introduced the film in his sweetly self-deprecating style (“I hope you like it?”) with Fujitani at his side. After the movie, they returned to the stage, beer bottles in hand, for a discussion led by moderator John Simon.

Gondry began by sharing that he and co-writer Gabrielle Bell were the only non-Japanese crew members on set, and though they worked with a translator, they cast actors that spoke English to make things easier. When Fujitani, who played the lead in his segment, teasingly asked if that was the only reason she got the part, Gondry agreed, joking, “we had much better actors that didn’t speak English.”

Gondry was the last of the three directors to sign on to TOKYO!, and he revealed that he wanted there to be interplay among the three segments, but Leos Carax and Bong Joon-ho had already written their stories. Each director was given 40 minutes of screen time (Fujitani said the three directors fought this—“can I have ten seconds more?”) and equal budgets, though Gondry playfully feigned suspicion he had been given much less.

Gondry’s “Interior Design” segment focuses on Hiroko (Fujitani) and her aspiring filmmaker boyfriend Akira (played by Ryo Kase), who move to Tokyo to begin new lives together. Gondry shared that Kase got his start in a Japanese boy band and insisted that was how all Japanese actors began their careers, turning to Fujitani for confirmation by asking, “you were in a boys’ band?” Fujitani added that Kase modeled his character after Gondry without telling him, and Gondry acknowledged the connection, explaining “since everyone’s polite to [Akira], he assumes he’s talented…which is probably what’s happening to me.”

That sense of humor about himself and others is a Gondry trait alive and well in “Interior Design,” and one that makes him such an enjoyable speaker to watch. He definitely kept moderator John Simon on his toes, challenging his questions and rarely giving a totally serious answer. When Simon declared there to be a long tradition of merging French and Japanese cinema but couldn’t cite anything but Alain Resnais’ Hiroshima Mon Amour, Gondry, straight-faced, teased, “It’s a little lame to make a generality from one example.”

The director also touched on the difference between making films and music videos, explaining that when he makes a film, “I never really know if it’s good or bad” until he reads what critics have to say. With music videos, he can judge the quality as soon as he’s completed one. He also confirmed he will be directing The Green Hornet but will not be able to do Master of Space and Time.

Gondry seemed to sum up what his movies are all about when he defined what having a sense of humor means to his work: “You don’t have to make people laugh, but if you look at something and acknowledge it’s ridiculous, it makes it easier to go along with.” He hesitated, asking if the audience could understand what he meant, and there was immediate general agreement—anyone who’s enjoyed the whimsical surrealism of a Gondry film understands completely.

Thanks to Liberation Entertainment, American Cinematheque, the French Film and TV Office, Giant Robot Magazine, the Korean Cultural Center, the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, and Sapporo Beer for a fantastic evening!

TOKYO! is now playing in New York and expands throughout the country in the following weeks. Check www.tokyothemovie.com for screening locations.

You can check out our photo album for a visual recap of the night.