March 11th, 2011. A huge tsunami occurred in Tokyo which lead to the Fukushima disaster. This is the tumultuous setting of Director Olivier Peyon’s French narrative drama film “Tokyo Shaking”. The film is an intriguing look at how people manage to move through incredibly difficult situations. 

Tokyo Shaking centres around lead protagonist Alexandra Pacquart (Karen Viard). Alexandra carries the weight of a variety of responsibilities. She is the Executive Director of “Credit de France”. She’s a mother of two kids Camille (Nola Blossom) and Victor (Simon Ayache). And she’s a wife to her husband Bertrand (Charlie Dupont), away in Hong Kong. The tsunami occurs. And Alexandra is thrown into a struggle to maintain stability. She must properly care for herself and all of those who rely on her in this extremely stressful situation. Karen Viard has an absolutely magnetic presence as Alexandra. Viard wonderfully captures the emotional layers and the complex and highly emotional situations. Alexandra is continuously experiencing these things throughout the film. The entire cast definitely deliver strong performances all around, elevating the narrative.

Tokyo Shaking at times feels incredibly engrossing and urgent, and in the more intense moments it works well. There are also quite a few times where the pacing of the film felt a bit too slow. The film would have benefit from a sharper edit. That would have kept the pacing of the film at a more consistent tempo. And the story would have been more engaging throughout the entire film. Tokyo Shaking does succeed when it is showcasing how extreme situations can sometimes bring out the best and the worst in people.  We see things through the eyes of the Alexandra. And it is an effective look at what is truly important to us especially in our most challenging moments.