The three relationships in “Dolls” are all doomed. In two of them, Sawako/Matsumoto, and Hiro/Ryoko, you can say they are doomed by betrayal that cannot be set right. But what do you make of the story of the pop idol Haruna Yamaguchi and her fan Nukui?
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I need some help with the pop star/fan storyline, or at least a second viewing. I became confused about the fates of the men vying to be Haruna's No. 1 fan. Did the one really gouge out his eyes, or was he pretending? Did he kill the other fan? And did he, as a construction worker, cause her disfiguring accident to begin with?
Oh, DW, also? What happened at Hanging Rock? You know I want literal, neat endings in a story.
I expected Sawako/Matsumoto's story to end (tragically) earlier -- I'm so glad they made it to that engagement scene, and I finally understood he was taking her to places of significance and not just ambling about in a state of mutual catatonia. Don't know whether it was deliberate, but there were other moments -- their crossing on a train track, shallow bridge, steep hill -- there were other moments I was cringing and thinking, "this is it -- it ends here." Like the landscape was working against them. And I'm overlooking the implied beating/rape. Or was that a dream?
Hiro and Ryoko were doomed by the nature of his actions that made him the success he wanted to be. That was a poignant moment in that half-second when he realized he would be shot -- I just had the feeling his last thought was, "Wait -- but I never got to tell her!"
Yes, that is another example of how well constructed this movie is. At first it seemed that Matsumoto was rambling around at random because he had a deep sense of responsibility for Sawako but also of helplessness since it seemed nothing could be done to bring her back. But then you realize that the places he is taking them were places they had been to during their relationship. It is never spelled out whether he does this to try and recapture his own sense of Sawako, or if he hopes it will help her recover some of her identity. Or you don’t need to read it as so instrumental at all. Instead, you can see it as juxtaposing what their life was before he betrayed her with what it has become.
Nukui really did cut out his eyes. He didn’t cause the car crash, instead he read about the crash on the scrolling sign that was on the building. That much is clear.
And it is Nukui who dies. It is his face superimposed on the blood that the street crew is washing away. I guess what I’m not sure about is whether it is suicide or whether the other fan murdered him out of jealousy—only Nukui has been allowed to spend time with Haruna. I lean to the murder idea. In this movie, it seems that the characters have a window in which to make a choice even if they don’t understand what is at stake. After they choose, their fate is out of their hands. I think this is one of the themes that was common in the bunraku plays.
Aagghh! I never realized Matsumoto was taking Sawako to significant places in their relationship. That's fantastic! And it makes sense. That's why he's so overjoyed that she remembers the engagement party, that she shows a spark of recognition. That's what he had been aiming for.
I guess I just assumed Nukui was killed in an accident. There was an earlier shot of him walking unsteadily down the side of the road, and I thought, "He's going to get hit by a car." Then later he was dead.
I was confused about his death, too, (for some reason the blood patterns on his body didn't seem consistent with a car accident), but I thought maybe we were supposed to not know for sure what happened, like if you yourself just came across a bloody corpse in the road, you really wouldn't know. You might just assume he was hit by a car, or that someone killed him.
Or that someone killed him by hitting him with a car.
What did everyone think of Haruna's final scene, alone? What conclusion had she reached about her fan?
Perhaps this is a question that Kitano does not have to settle, so he doesn’t.
That’s a good question Cl. Haruna is also cut off from life. First she is sheltered by her handlers who have a not unreasonable concern about fanatics. Then, after her accident, when she can no longer embody the perfection of beauty persona that she cultivated as a star, she withdraws herself. Flawed as he was, Nukui offered her a chance at real human connection. But does she understand this?
Yeah, that was my point basically with Nukui, DW. He could have been hit by a car or someone could have killed him, but I didn't have a burning desire to know one way or the other. The point just seemed to be that he was dead, that his blood had been spilled (I was pretty fascinated by that cleanup scene).
Did you notice how the film went directly from the lunch lady waiting alone on the bench to the shot of the pop star waiting alone on the beach? And when she was standing in the rose garden with Nukui, Hiro and the lunch lady's voices were superimposed on the scene.
I noticed the superimposed voices, but I didn’t notice the cut from the one woman waiting to the other one waiting. I plan on seeing this movie again. It is even more carefully constructed than I thought it was.
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