***/****
starring Miho Kanno, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Tatsuya Mihashi, Chieko Matsubara
written and directed by Takeshi Kitano
by Bill Chambers The Yakuza doesn't rear its head until well into Dolls, a gripping, fractured ensemble piece written and directed by that down-and-dirty poet of Japanese cinema, Takeshi Kitano. I must confess to feeling ill-equipped to discuss the mechanics of the film–it's storytelling that gives you the impression of being steeped in oral tradition, and all I can say is that Dolls is accessible to monkey-brained North American viewers like myself all the same. Beginning with an elaborate puppet show shot with verve and affection, the film proceeds to fabricate a human backstory for these Bunraku dolls; intersecting the tale of the "chained beggars," a tranquil young couple leashed together by an orange rope, are subplots involving a "famous lady" who shows up with two lunches at a park every Saturday, sitting in wait for the boyfriend who left her fifty years before, and a pop star disfigured in a car accident unwilling to greet fans for that reason, leading to sick ingenuity among her stalkers. The perils of love, or is it obsession? Unfortunately for Dolls, its least captivating fable is front and centre (even though that orange rope metaphorically ties the film together), and anyone capable of sitting through the last ten minutes of the film without getting restless is a Kitano apologist. Those major quibbles aside, the picture burrows its way under the skin. PROGRAM: VISIONS
