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Miho Kanno, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Tatsuya Mihashi, Chieko Matsubara, Kyôko Fukada ... see more see more... , Tsutomu Takeshige , Kanji Tsuda , Kayoko Kishimoto , Shimadayu Toyotake , Yuko Daike , Ren Ohsugi

Master filmmaker Takeshi Kitano returns behind the camera for the first time since his indifferently received English-language effort Brother (2000) with this operatic tale of lost love. Dolls takes p... read more read more...uppeteering as its overriding motif -- specifically, the kind practiced in Bunraku doll theater performances -- opening each section of his film with a story provided by the puppets and their masters, which relates thematically to the action provided by the live characters. Chief among those tales is the story of Matsumoto (Hidetoshi Nishijima) and Sawako (Miho Kanno), a young couple whose relationship is about to be broken apart by the former's parents, who have insisted their son take part in an arranged marriage to his boss' daughter. He initially agrees, causing the unstable Sawako to be committed to a psychiatric hospital. When he leaves his new bride at the altar to save Sawako, however, he realizes that she's so incapable of caring for herself that she needs to be tied to him with a red rope. Inextricably bound, the two wander through Japan, encountering others along the way who have similarly overlooked love for other, more fleeting pleasures: fame, power, money. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

Flixster Users

87% liked it

9,867 ratings

Critics

73% liked it

37 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 53 min.

Directed by: Takeshi Kitano

Release Date: September 5, 2002

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DVD Release Date: March 8, 2005

Stats: 656 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (656)

  • stevenecarrier
    March 3, 2011
    stevenecarrier
    When I viewed Takeshi Kitano's "Dolls" I was told I would either love or hate the film. In retrospect, neither of those emotions crossed my mind. I merely though the film was OK. I certainly enjoyed piecing together the three stories and dissecting the themes, symbolism and being... read more taken under it's visual spell- but I couldn't help being reminded by so many other, better films. The film is about obsession (clearly taken from "Vertigo"), it deals with relationships where the couples are imploding but bound together (clearly taken from "Eyes Wide Shut"- with the same use of color and music), and it's about the emotional violence men can inflict on weak woman (clearly taken from "In the Company of Men"; "Dolls" also adopts, without the grace Neil Labute's film had, the idea that ALL women are weak, pitiful messes). "Dolls" just seemed like a rehash of better and more interesting films- granted, it has beautiful imagery, but that alone does not make a great.
  • DrBenway
    December 12, 2008
    DrBenway
    Takeshi Kitano brings us three stories about the decisions we make that affect our whole lives. The key element here is that we sometimes make the wrong decision due to emotions involved, not to mention pressure from others, and framed as a bunraku performance, Japan's national ... read moreart-form involving elaborate puppets.

    Dolls is Kitano's quietest and most accomplished film so far, in my humble opinion. Given the unhappy consequences for many of the love-struck protaganists, this may lead the viewer to believe that the idea of love, although lasting, is bitter-sweet as Kitano goes from making his well known violent films to one of pain involving what we do to ourselves when we take the wrong path in life. Be careful what you wish forPhotobucket
  • DragonEyeMorrison
    January 18, 2008
    DragonEyeMorrison
    Drags a bit in some parts, yet Kitano knows how to keep things simple and direct to the point.
  • lesleyanorton
    March 25, 2011
    lesleyanorton
    I nearly stopped watching this in the first ten minutes, but luckily once the Japanese dolls were put away, it became more of a Kitano film. Three stories about love, though you'd have to be Pollyanna to find much goodness in the co-dependent relationships of the three couples w... read moreho are melancholic or just plain irritating, depending on your POV.
    Watch with caution if you're suffering unrequited love. It might give you all sorts of ideas.

  • mvieaddict
    October 10, 2009
    mvieaddict
    When I started to watch Dolls, in the first 10 minutes I wanted to close it down, was for me an odd movie and way too slow.But being a movie of Kitano I wanted to give it a try and as the movie went on I started to like it. There was no happy ending in this movie. But it was a mo... read moreving film, that will have you thinking about the depth of love. In most romantic dramas, there was sex, not in this one, but still Kitano could show you the depths of love without the sex part. There was little dialogue, so made me pay more attention what was really going on. Overall, it was a bitter three human stories.
  • cacutshaw
    February 25, 2007
    cacutshaw
    Beautiful and tragic Kitano movie with seperate stories all involving heartbreak. A wonderful yet sad viewing experience.
  • ac2010fz
    September 21, 2010
    ac2010fz
    Great cinematography. Pace was a bit unsteady, but overall an enjoyable film with impressive art direction.
  • mayrei
    July 13, 2008
    mayrei
    Boring and pretentious. I'm not even completely against movies that are boring and pretentious, but I just couldn't take this. Although I did enjoy the the storyline about the yakuza boss.
  • earlferrer5
    June 29, 2008
    earlferrer5
    I try my hardest to watch this movie to the end. But no joke, I end up falling asleep every time past the first story. I honestly want to like this movie and I think 1.5 stars is the best it will get from me
  • misterman99615
    June 24, 2008
    misterman99615
    Such a beautiful film. The movie holds strong to the theme of love and expresses it in all kinds of forms throughout the three stories. The film is quite simple and holds tons of symbolism and covers the entire spectrum of emotion. It's a lot different from what you'd expect f... read morerom Kitano but this film proves he really is a masterful filmmaker. The scenery and characters are so wonderful there is not much dialog but that is what made this movie so good. It made me happy sad and very pleased. It's such an original piece of cinema and one that will stay in your memory for a long time. Simply wonderful and beautiful in every way a masterpiece.

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Critic Reviews

G. Allen Johnson
March 11, 2005
G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle

The cinematography is colorful and sweeping, the editing and storytelling simple and pure. Full Review

Ty Burr
February 11, 2005
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

It's all as passionate, refined, and insistently sad as Bunraku puppetry itself. Full Review

Roger Ebert
February 4, 2005
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Dolls isn't a film for everybody, especially the impatient, but Kitano does succeed, I think, in drawing us into his tempo and his world, and slowing us down into the sadness of his characters. Full Review

Michael Wilmington
February 3, 2005
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

A work both rigorously stylized and deeply personal. Full Review

Carina Chocano
January 20, 2005
Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times

The movie's pace is appropriate to its mood, which is crisp, melancholy and gently cruel. Full Review

Stephen Whitty
December 13, 2004
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

Studied and stately, and restrained to the point of stasis, Dolls isn't for everyone. But it will provide loyal fans of Kitano, and Japanese art, a decided pleasure. Full Review

Robert Dominguez
December 10, 2004
Robert Dominguez, New York Daily News

Rife with beautiful imagery and loads of symbolism, though none of the stories is particularly compelling on its own. Full Review

V.A. Musetto
December 10, 2004
V.A. Musetto, New York Post

Lush and poetic, Dolls proves once again that Kitano is one of the world's most original filmmakers.

Stephen Holden
December 10, 2004
Stephen Holden, New York Times

Takeshi Kitano's melancholy allegory is a meditation on the heavy ties that bind, of which love is merely one and not necessarily the strongest. Full Review

Gene Seymour
December 9, 2004
Gene Seymour, Newsday

Kitano always delivers movies that, however mixed in quality, make you stare at them intently. And almost always, you feel as though the movies are staring right back at you. Full Review

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