Takeshi Kitano's Dolls (2002) - A Film Review
Three intertwined stories of undying love and sacrifice
Takeshi Kitano is known for writing and directing films about the Yakuza, films in which violence is prevalent and the scenery masked in a hue of greyish-blue. And while, in the film Dolls, Kitano strays from using the usual gangster violence, he does delve deeper into an even more haunting depiction of violence, where love conquers its victims and blinds them into committing horrifying acts against themselves for the sake of their loved ones.
Dolls opens with a bunraku performance, in particular, a scene from Monzaemon Chikamatsu's "The Courier from Hell," in which, the courtesan begs her lover to cease from committing foolishness for her sake. A foreshadowing of what's to come.
The Bound Beggars
The film then segues into live-action, with a shot of Matsumoto (Hidetoshi Nishijima) and Sawako (Miho Kanno)--subjects of the film's first story--wandering aimlessly, a giant rope bound between them. It's later explained that the "bound beggars," as they're known, once were engaged, but Matsumoto's parents forced him to call off the engagement with Sawako in order to marry his boss's daughter.
A devastated Sawako unsuccessfully attempts suicide and suffers severe brain damage. Matsumoto, burdened by the circumstances, breaks away from what would be a safe, comfortable life, and devotes himself to Sawako, and both are left homeless and penniless, and forced to wander.
A Yakuza and his Girl
In the film's second story, an aging Yakuza boss named Hiro (Tatsuya Mihashi) reminisces of his true love of long ago, who he left heartbroken at a park bench once he decided on becoming a Yakuza. Women were considered a complication to the up-and-coming Yakuza. Yet, at the moment of the break-up, the girl, Ryoko (Chieko Matsubara), vows to return to the park bench every Saturday, with two boxed lunches, awaiting his return.
Pop Stars and their maniacal fanbase
The third story's focal point is Haruna (Kyoko Fukada), a beautiful pop star, and her oldest, most devoted fan Nukui (Tsutomu Takeshige). A car accident disfigures Haruna--she loses an eye--and forces her to elect to withdraw from the world. The devastation felt at the inability to see Haruna in person causes Nukui to make a drastic move.
Each story in Dolls intertwines only in that the bound beggars are shown walking past characters from the two subsequent stories. Otherwise, each is a separately told story of blind sacrifice. The three lovers--Matsumoto, Ryoko and Nukui--are possessed with the notion of how their lives should be, turning a blind eye to any options outside of their own selfishness. Ultimately, forcing their own fate.
The film is beautiful--the scenery looks as though taken directly off paintings--yet, Kitano still adds a cruelty to it all by placing such desperate characters amid the beauty of the landscape. With that said, while Kitano strayed from his usual gangster violence, he couldn't help but depict an even crueler violence--that of a sad, almost hopeless world.
Miho Kanno and Hidetoshi Nishijima in Dolls
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