Ageing safecracker and compulsive gambler Bob lives by night and sleeps by day, and thrives on his nostalgia for the prewar gangster milieu, before the infiltration of the Gestapo upset the delicate balance between cop and criminal. Bob’s going for the big stakes now: the casino vault in Deauville.

The starting point for this film was the question, “Should I become a parent?” Having come from a troubled home, and never having felt loved by his father, the director wonders what kind of father he would be. Or if he should even become one. A shojo (young girl) gives birth, despite never having given motherhood a thought. Indifferent, she leaves her breasts behind, forcing her son to fend for himself. Desiring love, the man-boy sets out in the sampled city to find his mother, who gives him an icy-cold greeting before self-destructing. These are the experiences of fear, desire and loneliness of young people in Japan. This is their Tokyo Story.