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 Ôsugi	...	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
Midori Kanazawa	...	Matsumoto's Mother
Nao Omori	...	Matsumoto's Colleague
Kyoko Yoshizawa	...	Haruna's Mother
Kazunari Aizawa	...	The Young Minion
Moro Shioka	...	Hitman in the Park
Shuhei Saga	...	The Driver
Al Kitago	...	Aoki, the Fan
Hawking Aoyama	...	Son of the Boss's Brother
Hôchû Ôtsuka	...	Matsumoto's Friend (as Yoshitada Ohtsuka)
Mari Nishio	...	Sawako's Friend
Sammy Moremore Jr.	...	Friend of the Boss's Brother's Son
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Takeshi Oonishi

Directed by
Takeshi Kitano

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Takeshi Kitano		written by

Produced by
Masayuki Mori	....	producer
Takio Yoshida	....	producer

Original Music by
Joe Hisaishi

Cinematography by
Katsumi Yanagijima

Film Editing by
Takeshi Kitano

Production Design by
Norihiro Isoda

Costume Design by
Yohji Yamamoto

Sound Department
Senji Horiuchi	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Hitoshi Takaya	....	lighting director

Production Companies

• Bandai Visual Company
• Office Kitano
• TV Tokyo
• Tokyo FM Broadcasting Co.

Distributors

• A-Film Distribution (2003) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (for)
• Artificial Eye (2003) (UK) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Bir Film (2003) (Turkey) (theatrical)
• Filmmuseum Distributie (2003) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Frenetic Films (2003) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Mikado (2002) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Palm Pictures (2004) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Rapid Eye Movies (2003) (Germany) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2003) (Netherlands) (video)
• Artificial Eye (2003) (UK) (DVD)
• Channel Neko (2007) (Japan) (TV)
• Golden Scene (2003) (Hong Kong) (all media)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (Australia) (all media)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (New Zealand) (all media)
• Panorama Distributions (2004) (Hong Kong) (DVD)
• Sunfilm Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)

Other Companies

• All Nippon Airways Co.  
• Aoi Studio  post-production sound services
• Bunraku Association  
• Canon Sales Inc.  
• Canon  
• Carstunt Taka  car
• Chiso  
• Continental Far East  Dolby consultant
• Fujipacific Music  music production
• Half H-P Studio  sound re-recording studio
• Kodak Japan  film stock supplied by
• NAC Image Technology  camera equipment supplied by
• Nihon Shomei Co.  lighting equipment supplied by
• Office Kitano  music production
• Tokyo Laboratory Co. Ltd.  film processing
• Universal Music  music production
• Universal Music  soundtrack
• Wonder City  music production
• Yoshikawa Casting Office  casting

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:

Mad

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