Dolls (2002)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Takeshi Kitano

Writer:

Takeshi Kitano (written by)

Release Date:

12 October 2002 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Three stories about neverending love.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Pop Star | Blind | Doll | Bench

Awards:

2 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Miho Kanno	...	Sawako
Hidetoshi Nishijima	...	Matsumoto
Tatsuya Mihashi	...	Hiro, the Boss
Chieko Matsubara	...	Ryoko, the Woman in the Park
Kyôko Fukada	...	Haruna Yamaguchi, the Pop Star
Tsutomu Takeshige	...	Nukui, the Fan
Kayoko Kishimoto	...	Haruna's Aunt
Kanji Tsuda	...	Young Hiro
Yuuko Daike	...	Young Ryoko
Ren Osugi	...	Haruna's Manager
Shimadayu Toyotake	...	Tayu, Puppet Theater Narrator
Kiyosuke Tsuruzawa	...	Puppet Theater Shamisen Player
Minotaro Yoshida	...	Puppeteer of Umegawa the Courtesan
Yoshida	...	Puppeteer of Chubei
Shogo Shimizu	...	Matsumoto's Father

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:12 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Hungary:16 | South Korea:15 | Hong Kong:IIB | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | France:U | Germany:12 | Netherlands:AL | Spain:7 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12A | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company:

Bandai Visual Company

Trivia:

This is the last Takeshi Kitano film to feature music by Joe Hisaishi. Kitano claimed that it became too expensive to hire Hisaishi for soundtracks while Hisaishi claimed that he didn't like the screenplay of the movie. Actually, they both had an argument about some pieces which weren't selected for the soundtrack, and where to put the others in the movie. They stopped working together since then.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Embrace (2007)

Soundtrack:

Pure White

So... what would you do for love?

In "Dolls" Takeshi Kitano moves away from his peculiar ultra violent cinema and gives us his most poetic and introspective movie. He resorts to the crossing-stories structure to tell us three tales about love and regret, about doing anything for the person you love (and I mean ANYTHING). Calm, almost without dialogs, full of symbols and metaphors, every shot looks like a postcard. The minimalistic soundtrack and the amazing photography (wich stands out every single colour on the screen) catch you as you follow the tragedies that hide in every one of the stories. Kitano expands his horizons and demonstrates that he's a hell of a talent no matter what the genre is.

PS: not recommended for the impatient.

My rate: 8/10