Actor-Director Takeshi Kitano has received a lion's share of attention from the international film press and public for his often hard-edged, violent dramas about policemen and Japanese mafia, inflected with a touch of artistic flair.Therefore, DOLLS comes almost as a total surprise and persuasively affirms Kitano's reputation as a cinematic artist. It illuminates another side of Kitano that is not evident in his other work – that of a poet moved by love. A lyrical tale of tragic sacrifices made in the name of eternal devotion, it follows the fate of three very different couples, linking their plights with that of a couple from a 17th-century bunraku puppet theater play, two sequences of the performance of which open and close the film, forming formidable book-ends which put the film's other passions into cultural context. The opening shots of the dolls coming to life at the hands of master puppeteers are nothing short of exhiliarating.The cinematography by Katsumi Yanagishima is extraordinarily fluid and opulent. The clothing was designed by progressive couturier Yohji Yamamoto, himself once a subject of a film (Wim Wenders' little-seen 1989 documentary NOTEBOOK ON CITIES AND CLOTHES) and the costume designer on Kitano's previous film BROTHER.The film slowly but surely draws the viewer into the characters' inner worlds: a young man running from an arranged marriage at the last minute, his true love – a fragile girl pushed to the brink of insanity by the thought of him leaving her, an aging gangster in the autumn of his life faced with the stalwartly loyal woman he left years ago to join the yakuza, an obsessively devoted fan of a bubble-gum pop star who commiserates with her in her disfigurement after an accident. There is an unreal, fairy-tale feel to the proceedings that creates a pervasive air of mystery. The film is powerful in a strangely low-key way and its narrative flexibility defies explanation while leaving itself open to many different interpretations. It is definitely a film that requires an active imagination to appreciate, and its minimalism and inscrutability are part of the unique fascination it conjures. Highly recommended.

Visually one of the most outstanding films I've ever seen is the Japanese film 'Dolls'. My top favourite for last year's Intl Film Fest, this film says so much with just colours and its stunning cinematography. The film basically contains 3 different stories and it started with an arranged wedding. The groom ran away from it and visited his ex-girlfriend in the asylum who went mad when he was forced to marry into a rich family.There wasn't much dialogue between the 2 characters as they embarked on the most bizarre journey, with the female lead always in a daze that the male lead had to tie a red string on her hand to keep her from wandering off. 6 They walked thru spring, summer, autumn and winter all the while intersected with 2 other side stories. One is about a woman who waited for her lover since teenage years till she's about 40+, preparing bento lunch for him everyday and waiting for him at the park. He finally came one day but ….sigh….The next story is about a popular singer and her number 1 fan, the pretty girl got disfigured one day and her fan, in order to meet her, decided to blind himself with his last vision of her poster. Pretty strong love huh….We've reached winter and that's when the female lead finally remembers the guy and the scene was so heartwarming. She just cried and u can just feel their love after going through so much. Seasons transit in such way that they walk from red leaves to snow ground in a step, very beautifully done and the colour motif is splendid from bright red to pure white.**Magical Journey**

The first five minutes of "Dolls" had me at odds with the film, and very close to turning it off. But the first five minutes are extremely important, and as the movie went on I liked it more. I will have you know that there is no happy ending in this movie, and the final scene made me sick to my stomach with sorrow. But it is truly a moving film, that will have you thinking about the dimensions of love and what it has become in today's society. In most romantic dramas, there is usually sex, but not so in this, which made me want to applaud the director for showing the depths of love without the physical part. There is also very little dialogue, so you MUST pay attention to the screen. Overall, it is a bittersweet study of six individuals all coping with lost love in one way or another. Bravo.

I liked the story and the cinematography and the acting and so on an so forth like most everyone here..... but dang, all this talk about how "painfully beautiful and sad" the movie was just make me wanna throw up. I check the comment hoping someone can explain what the ending meant, but all i read is how beautiful and sad the movie is and how great kitano is. pss.. all that is great but freak... why can't someone just say what it means instead of all this artsy crap talk ? saw a few of kitano's movie. i have to say sonatine is pretty watchable. especially the part where the chick takes off her dress in the jungle. Saw a pretty amazing movie couple days ago called "stranger of mine". check it out you won't be disappointed.