Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
Dolls takes puppeteering as its overriding motif, which relates thematically to the action provided by the live characters. Chief among those tales is the story of Matsumoto and Sawako, 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.
Takeshi Kitano's Dolls is a visually ravishing meditation on love and fate, with Katsumi Yanagijima's cinematography capturing Japan's seasonal landscapes in stunning tableaux that feel almost painterly. The bunraku puppet motif as structural and thematic frame is genuinely distinctive, giving the film a singular, poetic identity unlike any other romance of its era. The three interlocking stories of obsessive, tragic love have an allegorical, fable-like quality that suits Kitano's restrained directorial voice. However, the narrative deliberately sacrifices dramatic momentum for aesthetic contemplation, leaving the plotting feeling thin and underdeveloped across all three threads. The acting is serviceable but emotionally distanced by design, which can feel alienating. The ending, while tonally consistent with the film's melancholic worldview, resolves in an expected lyrical tragedy rather than anything truly surprising.