The Japanese family drama is inextricably connected to the name Hirokazu Koreeda due to features such as “Shoplifters” or “Monster”. While the majority of viewers will most likely come up with titles like the ones mentioned, the director has more than once explored other narratives and characters, while staying true to his core themes of what makes us human and connect to one another. His fans quite often make a case of works such as “The Third Murder” or “After Life” not being of the same quality as the more known family drama, but this is an unfair and wrong claim, as Koreeda has more than once dealt with ideas that have proven to be much more lasting and relevant in the long run. One of these examples is “Air Doll”, which ranks on place 13 of AMP’s list of the works of the director and is possibly one of his most interesting features , despite some corny sequences.
Metrograph presents Daring Motion: The Films of Mark Lee Ping-bing, an overview of the legendary cinematographer’s illustruos career, beginning September 6 at Metrograph In Theater. Select films from the series, Air Doll and Millennium Mambo, plus online-exclusive Let the Wind Carry Me, will be available for streaming from September 1 on Metrograph At Home.
40-year-old Hideo (Itsuji Itao) lives alone in his small apartment. In order to have some company, he images his sex doll, which he has named Nozomi, to be his girlfriend he shares meals with, has conversations with and, of course, shares the bed with. One day, however, Nozomi (then played by Bae Doona) comes to life, explores the apartment and its furniture and in the end goes out on the street, discovering what the neighborhood has to offer. Even though her only clothing is a maid’s outfit, she finds work in a video rental store, where she is introduced to the world of movies by its owner and her fellow colleague Junichi (Arata).
As she becomes more and more familiar with the world around her, she recognizes the loneliness of the people around her. She also begins to wonder about her place of origin, who has made her and whether she can ever be a human or stay a surrogate. Her ventures further into the city bring her closer to the person who might be her maker, while also connecting her romantically with Junichi, who may be the only person that knows about her secret.
On the surface, the premise of “Air Doll” admittedly sounds a bit silly and gimmicky, but there is some surprising depth to the themes and characters Koreeda explores in his feature. While Bae Doona’ Nozomi is the focal point for pretty much the entire movie, we are also presented with an array of side characters, Hideo being one of them, their lives, their jobs and how they spend their time at home. A woman observes how her younger female colleagues are preferred over her at her workplace whereas another character spends her days at her messy apartment consuming junk food until she vomits or passes out. Hideo, a character who certainly has some weird and also creepy aspects to him, turns out to be one who has to keep up an appearance of competence and happiness, which he increasingly struggles with throughout the plot. The character who has turned human by chance becomes an observer of the various forms of loneliness we encounter in urban spaces as well as the way we have learned to hide our true emotions in order to pursue questionable careers in workplaces that do not appreciate their employees and only highlight our lonely, often depressed condition.
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However, while the aforementioned themes and characters are quite sad, the central character and more precisely her perspective on things profoundly make up the tone of “Air Doll”. While her quest to search for her origins and identity strongly reminds us of characters such as Pinocchio, what she observes is infused with a strong sense of realism and humanity. At the same time, Koreeda seemingly also alludes to the heightened realism and fantasy of classical Hollywood cinema (or cinema in general), especially romance and musical. Bae Doona emphasizes the various experiences, bad and good, of her character, showing the development of Nozomi, from a somewhat naive character to a much more rounded and relatable individual, who clings on to her dreams, with the audience wanting her to achieve them. It is an emotional roller coaster the actress has to go through and a performance which becomes even more interesting as she stresses the physical vulnerability of her character (since even the slightest of cuts could be the end of her). Similar things can be said for Arata’s performance who suffers from the condition everyone has been affected by in his movie, namely his inability to connect with others and also a growing sense of solitude.
Admittedly, there are some strange scenes and moments here and there. Much like in his other features, Koreeda adds melodrama and sometimes even kitsch to his characters and some of the scenes, which often feels misplaced. However, as he stresses the fantastical aspects of the story along with the aforementioned quest for the main character to become human and learn about her origins, there are deeply touching and also beautiful moments too.
“Air Doll” is a drama dealing with loneliness, identity and what makes us human. Hirokazu Koreeda blends realism and fantasy in a feature which more than once finds the right tone and images to make its point, especially when addressing the solitude of people in an age when everything should be more connected than ever.
