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Dolls

Play trailer Poster for Dolls 2002 1h 53m Drama Romance Play Trailer Watchlist
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72% Tomatometer 39 Reviews 88% Popcornmeter 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).
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 12/14/2017
Perhaps the best advice is, stop worrying about meaning. Sit back, enjoy its rich design, costumes, landscape and colours. Go to Full Review
G. Allen Johnson San Francisco Chronicle 03/11/2005
3/4
The cinematography is colorful and sweeping, the editing and storytelling simple and pure. Go to Full Review
Ty Burr Boston Globe 02/11/2005
3/4
It's all as passionate, refined, and insistently sad as Bunraku puppetry itself. Go to Full Review
Christopher Machell CineVue 01/17/2017
4/5
Kitano's sensibilities as a blackly-comic director serve the film well Go to Full Review
Robin Clifford Reeling Reviews 09/23/2011
C
Daniel Kasman d+kaz. intelligent movie reviews 11/08/2007
C-
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Audience Reviews

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isla s 09/01/2022 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. See more 06/13/2021 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 See more 01/19/2019 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. See more 09/10/2017 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. See more 12/13/2014 The exploration of themes of Love and Death is amazing as they are treated in a wholly opposite manner; Love in the cases of Sawako, Nyuiki and Ryoko destroy, on the other hand, Death is the culmination of efforts of sorts for Nyuiki, The leashed beggars and even Hiro. See more 11/16/2014 her izledi?imde etkileyen say?l? filmlerden... See more Read all reviews
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
Producer
Masayuki Mori, Takio Yoshida
Screenwriter
Takeshi Kitano
Distributor
Palm Pictures
Production Co
TV Tokyo, Bandai Visual Co. Ltd., 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