'TOKYO GODFATHERS' PAINTS EMOTIONAL PICTURE.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

`TOKYO GODFATHERS'' is an anime movie made for people who don't necessarily like anime. In many ways, Satoshi Kon's gritty comedy is a distant cousin to the celebrated ``The Triplets of Belleville,'' particularly in the way it shows how unlikely people can form familial bonds. The film steers clear of the supernatural and science-fiction elements that dominate most anime offerings, instead focusing on a linear story (borrowed from John Ford's 1948 western ``The Three Godfathers'') about a trio of homeless people changed by the discovery of a baby.

Kon's previous movies - the psychologically dense ``Perfect Blue'' and the time-shifting ``Millennium Actress'' (released in the U.S. last September) - didn't lack for the fantastical, but here he keeps astonishments subtle and confined to a conventional narrative. There's still magic in ``Tokyo Godfathers,'' but it comes from watching three downtrodden souls overcome their limitations and, in the process, find a measure of redemption.

The three homeless heroes (and they are heroes here, even, eventually and reluctantly, of the ``action'' variety) include Gin (voiced by Toru Emori), an alcoholic ex-bicycle racer who has lost his family, the one-time drag queen Hana (Yoshiaki Umegaki) and an adolescent runaway Miyuki (Aya Okamoto). After finding a baby in a pile of holiday trash during a Tokyo white Christmas, the three disparate friends set out to find the mother, if only to ask why she would abandon her child.

Their wild journey through a vividly imagined back-alley, snow-covered Tokyo has its share of comic and manic moments, but Kon is mostly interested in sensitively exploring the inner lives of his characters and revealing the circumstances that put them on the street. The alcoholic, the transvestite, the runaway: These are unusual protagonists for any movie, and Kon doesn't shy away from the issues that would follow such homeless folk. AIDS, feelings of abandonment and even personal hygiene are touched upon.

Throughout, Kon never loses his sense of humor, and by the time it reaches its feel-good finale, ``Tokyo Godfathers'' stands as a triumph of three indomitable, original spirits. If you enjoyed the quirky characters and story of ``Belleville,'' it's probably right up your alley.

Glenn Whipp, (818) 1. 713-3672

glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com

TOKYO GODFATHERS - Three stars

(PG-13: thematic elements,violent images, language and some sexual material. In Japanese with English subtitles.)

Director: Satoshi Kon.

Running time: 1 hr. 31 min.

Playing: Landmark's Nuart in West Los Angeles.

In a nutshell: Anime for those who don't necessarily like anime; animation for those who dug ``The Triplets of Belleville.''

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Three homeless friends try to find the mother of an abandoned baby in ``Tokyo Godfathers.''