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      Dolls

      Released Sep 5, 2002 1h 53m Drama Romance List
      73% Tomatometer 40 Reviews 88% Audience Score 10,000+ Ratings In this visually stunning drama, three romantic tales are told using elements of Japanese Bunraku puppet theater. In the first, Sawako (Miho Kanno) becomes suicidal when her fiancé, Matsumoto (Hidetoshi Nishijima), leaves her to marry the boss's daughter. Next, an obsessed fan, Nukui (Tsutomu Takeshige), expresses his love for pop singer Haruna (Kyoko Fukada) in a highly violent manner. Then, aging gangster Hiro (Tatsuya Mihashi) attempts to reconnect with an old flame (Chieko Matsubara). Read More Read Less
      Dolls

      What to Know

      Critics Consensus

      Dolls doesn't offer easy answers, but for audiences attuned to its beguiling wavelength, writer-director Takeshi Kitano's work offers rich, distinctive rewards.

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      Critics Reviews

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      Alexander Walker London Evening Standard Perhaps the best advice is, stop worrying about meaning. Sit back, enjoy its rich design, costumes, landscape and colours. Dec 14, 2017 Full Review Empire Magazine Rated: 4/5 Nov 8, 2007 Full Review G. Allen Johnson San Francisco Chronicle The cinematography is colorful and sweeping, the editing and storytelling simple and pure. Rated: 3/4 Mar 11, 2005 Full Review Christopher Machell CineVue Kitano's sensibilities as a blackly-comic director serve the film well Rated: 4/5 Jan 17, 2017 Full Review Robin Clifford Reeling Reviews Rated: C Sep 23, 2011 Full Review Daniel Kasman d+kaz. intelligent movie reviews Rated: C- Nov 8, 2007 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

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      David G Her is a good review https://t.me/nastkinopro/32 Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 10/14/23 Full Review isla s I could see early on this is a film about relationships and fragility. It has quite a light and floaty musical score playing in the background. Watching the tears fall slowly from the female characters face, relatively early on, I found quite moving, even though there's no obvious context to this given, at the time. Its also about symbolism, I'd say. it's quite a visual film, with lots of colours and traditional music at times. Its also about reticence and feeling like your, or actually being, under someone else's control (influence). It's very much a quiet and thoughtful film with a sad tone to it. I thought it was quite touching, so I would recommend this film, yes. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member A pure masterpiece. Dolls is a deep exploration into Emotions, Obsession and Love and just how far people go with them. Vastly different to Kitanos other films but still offers moments of his ludicrous humour. I think Dolls won't be for everyone but if you get it then i can assure you it'll be one of the best film experiences you have. My only advice is use your heart for this film and not your brain Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member I believe it's my first full Takeshi Kitano flick, one of many acclaimed directors of Japan and Asia. This is a piece with love as theme, but there is so much more to it between the dialogue and what's seen on screen at first glance. It opens with a weird Bunraku doll show - plenty of guys controlling two dolls with they're hands as some other fellas make music and add screaming voices. This goes into a story about a wedding never happening, then into an old yakuza remembering back to his true love and then there is a pop star involved in a car crash. Not one of these three stories really affect me, but the couple tied together in a red rope, along with a few other people, glue this thing together as we see them often. This is not an easy film to follow since there is flashbacks and short scenes of these mentioned people all over here - chopping up the three main stories. This film is about the "glue" for me - the way of sticking this big aesthetic bowl together. Beautiful music and amazing shots and colors are the true strenght of this film. Sadly it's slow and weird - mixed the way that makes it flat as well, but the glue and the overall vibe is saving this film for me. I believe it's a piece that will grow on me in a weid way. I hated it at times when I saw it, but it got better for each minute and once it sinks in I believe it will be a film that was worth watching. Depressing and artistic, beliveable but different. Filled with emotions and great looks, thin when it comes to really gripping scenes. It does hit you with some true emotions over little things like broken air-blow toys, though. 7 out of 10 red leaves. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member I can't say I fully understand the movie. I think there's always something mysterious in Kitano's films, a depth that I don't quite get, or maybe it's the Japanese culture, but anyway it's a beautiful film with two endearing actors. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/02/23 Full Review william s Slow burn where the payoffs huge.Not for people lacking patients. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Dolls

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis In this visually stunning drama, three romantic tales are told using elements of Japanese Bunraku puppet theater. In the first, Sawako (Miho Kanno) becomes suicidal when her fiancé, Matsumoto (Hidetoshi Nishijima), leaves her to marry the boss's daughter. Next, an obsessed fan, Nukui (Tsutomu Takeshige), expresses his love for pop singer Haruna (Kyoko Fukada) in a highly violent manner. Then, aging gangster Hiro (Tatsuya Mihashi) attempts to reconnect with an old flame (Chieko Matsubara).
      Director
      Takeshi Kitano
      Screenwriter
      Takeshi Kitano
      Distributor
      Palm Pictures
      Production Co
      Bandai Visual Co. Ltd., TV Tokyo, Office Kitano
      Genre
      Drama, Romance
      Original Language
      Japanese
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Sep 5, 2002, Original
      Release Date (DVD)
      Mar 8, 2005
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $4.1K
      Runtime
      1h 53m
      Sound Mix
      Surround, Dolby Digital