Air Doll

Air Doll -- Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2009

What does it mean to develop a soul and heart? Being free from emptiness. Knowing the feeling of emptiness and isolation. Developing a heart and having it broken.

Toronto "officially" received the "World Premiere" for Hirokazu Kore-eda's Air Doll at TIFF '09. That was according to the director himself -- who proclaimed during the Q&A session -- that after the Cannes festival screening, some two hundred or so shots were edited. Based on a manga, Air Doll is Kore-eda's latest film from an already impressive resume of quality film-making.

In most of his previous films, Kore-eda's direction looks into the everyday lives and struggles of individuals or families. In Nobody Knows and Still Walking, we glimpse into family structures that are breaking or have broken. Films like Maborosi and Hana focus on individual struggles. Note: I've only seen those four Kore-eda films previous to Air Doll.

Air Doll revolves around the idea of individual struggles, but with fantasy elements -- in partiular, about a doll coming to life. Nozomi is a blow up doll. Made of plastic, and filled with air. She lives with Hideo (Itsuji Itao), a middle-aged man living with no one but his doll. One morning, Nozomi develops a soul while Hideo routinely scampers to work. Bae Du-Na (The Host, Linda Linda Linda) plays Nozomi, inhibiting the plastic doll character with a life-size transformation and embodying the physical features of a human being. Real flesh, real hair, real eyes...... a real soul.

Like a new born, she becomes a new entity into the world, without fully understanding the world around her. Discovering the world through people, she slowly learns more about the world. Embracing the world. The vision of an innocent, like a new born.

Nozomi wanders through the streets of the small town she lives in. Garbage piles, run-downed houses, an empty playground, and a small green grass patch where an old man visits daily. The old man, perched on a bench -- with a respiratory tube connected to him -- is one of a few characters Nozomi encounters, and one of a few characters who portray emptiness.

A local video rental store stands on a street corner -- bright lights illuminate the store sign. A young store clerk, Junichi (played by ARATA), becomes Nozomi's love interest. And is hired to work in the same video rental store, even without an understanding of films. From this point, Nozomi's soul learns to love. They embrace each other's company. He sees her for her innocence, or maybe as a replacement for a lost love. She learns the meaning of celebrating a birthday -- the celebration of life.

Air Doll delves into the state of emptiness and isolation amoung its characters. When Nozomi meets the old man, she asks why people around here feel empty. The old man, taking a deep breathe, responds that people who live in this kind of town feel empty. Whether you are an old man with no one looking after you. A young video store clerk losing a loved one. A middle-aged woman with an identity crisis. A middle-age man living alone. A depressed teenager addicted to junk food to temporarily relieve anxieties. An air doll that is literally empty -- filled with air.

Nozomi may represent a side of emptiness, but on the other side, she helps fill the void of isolation for those around her. Although filling that void may be temporal. She fulfills that sexual desire for Hideo as a sex object. Fulfills a lost love for Junichi. Becomes a caretaker for a lonely old man. In return, she gains an understanding of obtaining a heart and soul. Nozomi's relationship with Junichi breathes life into her physically and metaphorically. Physically, when Juichi inflates Nozomi. In one scene, the act of inflating between Junichi and Nozomi is seen as lovemaking. And metaphorically, she embraces a found heart. A found heart -- according to Nozomi -- can lead to a broken heart.

From Kore-eda's message of emptiness to his technical direction, Kore-eda moves in a new direction from his previous films. The cinematography -- with cinematographer Mark Lee, who worked on Wong Kar-Wai's In The Mood For Love -- comes off as Kore-eda's most visually striking piece. The use of a musical score -- composed by Katsuhiko Maeda (World's End Girlfriend) -- plays well to its appropriate scenes. The playful score we hear when Nozomi discovers the world around her coincides with the innocence and playfulness of her character. Being a love story, as Kore-eda put, the addition of music added to the mood. We also view a darker side from Kore-eda, as the film changes from one mood to a mood-altering turn.

Air Doll places another successful chapter into Kore-eda's filmography. Will he continue with this direction, or back to a more subtle approach? It would not hurt to see more of this approach like Air Doll, but either way, we always anticipate whatever new projects he accomplishes.

8.5 out of 10