Dolls (2002)
Genre: Drama / Romance
Duration: 114 minuten
Alternative title: ドールズ
Country:
Japan
Directed by: Takeshi Kitano
Stars: Miho Kanno, Tatsuya Mihashi and Hidetoshi Nishijima
IMDb score:
7,5 (18.089)
Releasedate: 12 October 2002
This movie is not available on US streaming services.
Dolls plot
"Three stories of never-ending love."
The film is about three contemporary love stories inspired by Japanese puppet theatre. Matsumoto and Sawako were once a happy couple about to tie the knot. But the interference of the parents, who above all wanted to put the interests of the family first, forced the young man to make a terrible choice. Hiro is a lonely, aging yakuza leader. Thirty years ago, he was a poor factory worker who met his girlfriend every afternoon in the park. But by prioritizing his personal ambitions, he let her stand. Now he returns to the park to reminisce about old memories. Haruna Yamaguchi spends her days on the beach, looking at the endless sea. Her face is half covered with bandages. Before her accident, she was a celebrated pop star who lived a glamorous life. Millions of fans idolized her, but Nukui was undeniably her most devoted fan. Today he wants to prove his loyalty.
Actors and actresses
Sawako
Matsumoto
Hiro
Ryoko
Haruna Yamaguchi
Nukui
Haruna's Aunt
Young Hiro
Young Ryoko
Haruna's Manager
Reviews & comments
Donkerwoud
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- 8932 messages
- 4079 votes
Just like 'Kikujiro' (1999), a film by Takeshi Kitano in which excessive violence and wry irony play a less prominent role. Here the director takes classical Japanese puppet theater as the leitmotif around three contemporary stories about love in all its manifestations: caste differences and the angry gaze of judgmental others; the unrequited yearning for a love that may never come; and the obsessive/compulsive love towards an unattainable ideal. And all this with beautiful atmospheric shots of rustling cherry blossoms, pristine white winter landscapes, and an absurd dream sequence to lick the fingers of cinephiles. 'Dolls' (2002) balances on the edge of kitschy and sentimentality, but Kitano continues to throw hard punches that invite the viewer to almost laugh at the characters. Even more than singing about the beauty of that romantic love - as in the different cultural references he incorporates into it - he shows a different kind of beauty of love. That sad but pitiful human struggle to desire and be desired, when it seldom leads to more than heartache, melancholy and frustration.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Movsin
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- 8472 messages
- 8514 votes
Visually very strong with also a clever, original structure and interweaving of the storylines.
It is a film about love, faithfulness and infidelity, regret and realization and drama.
Many captivating scenes, many with the journey of Matsumoto and Sawaka, but it produces a lot of beautiful images with lots of colors, in which the seasons are rendered somewhat nicely. Certainly not without emotion and I personally find the passages on the couch with the old yakuza and the hopeful woman very, very beautiful and tender.
Particularly clever, finally the last scene with the puppet theater figures in which their faces are given meaning.
I could only admire the performances.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Fisico
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- 10039 messages
- 5398 votes
Dolls is a gripping film about love, fidelity and grief based on three love stories. Especially the couple Matsumoto and Sawako fascinated me the most, where Matsumoto follows his heart and wishes to bear the consequences for his wrong choices in the past.
Visually, Dolls is very handsome, partly because Kitano makes use of the beautiful natural beauty of flowering Japanese cherry trees and even more of that beauty. The editing is strong with the alternation between the three stories, although I found myself wanting to return to the duo Matsumoto and Sawako. Cinematographically very strong and the soundtrack is also very atmospheric and captivating.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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