Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

GamerTab That was an excellent one.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

birthdaynoodle Director Hirokazu Koreeda boldly took on the challenge of making a film about a sex doll, a story based on an original manga series. The main character, Nozomi, starts out as a woman who's never been treated as anything other than a sex object. She is sometimes embodied in the film by an actual doll and other times by Korean actress Bae Doona, a combination that works out very nicely. As she begins to gain more awareness of herself and the world around her, she realizes how human relationships can be infinitely more fulfilling. I don't want to give away too much, but in essence, she seems to discover the link between love and beauty. The notion of a character in search of its human soul is reminiscent of 'Pinocchio' and 'The Little Mermaid' (which is directly referred to in the film). To replace such traditional figures with a sex doll is an interesting concept and I thought Koreeda would get away with it... until I got about halfway through the film, at which point, unfortunately, he lost me.Koreeda's 2004 film, 'Nobody Knows', is one of my all-time favorites, so I have to admit that I approached 'Air Doll' with very high expectations. The director's style is quiet, delicate, meditative, even feminine, something that is more commonly found in Asian cinema and art. As a Western man, I appreciate it when directors like him provide that sort of aesthetic, which is all too rare on our side of the globe. But as much as I enjoyed that quality in 'Nobody Knows', for example, I felt that 'Air Doll' is excessively sweet. At times, Bae's performance as a doll is very effective, particularly when her facial expressions seem most strange and awkward; but too often, she plays her role in a way that's just too "kawaii" (Japanese for "adorably cutesy") for me. Personally, I find that style more appropriate in animation, and rather too tacky on (live-action) film. The symbolism in 'Air Doll' also seems too heavy-handed and ultimately sinks the film from that wonderful lightness that it achieves in some parts earlier on.

zetes A big disappointment. It comes from one of the world's finest director (among others he's made Nobody Knows, Mabarosi, After Life and Still Walking). It also stars one of the world's finest actresses, Bae Doo-na (The Host, Linda Linda Linda, Barking Dogs Never Bight, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Take Care of My Cat). To boot, it starts off fairly well. Bae Doo-na plays a blow-up doll who comes to life. Initially, she is absolutely fascinated with the human world and enjoys life to the fullest extent. Sure, it's not deep. Pretty much it's just Bae Doo-na walking around in a French maid outfit looking adorable. At worst, that's perfectly tolerable. Unfortunately, around the halfway point, the film changes from a goofy, fantastical romantic comedy to a ridiculously maudlin story of loneliness. Some of the plot twists are flat-out laughable, and the fantasy itself is fairly silly, but it's treated like this is the universe's greatest tragedy. Perhaps the fact that I had to watch the film in two sections made the change feel more abrupt (I'm definitely open to giving it a second chance someday), but, whatever the reason, the movie as a whole did not work for me.

crossbow0106 Doo-na Bae, who I saw less than two weeks ago in "Spring Bears Love", now stars as a life size blow up doll come to like. As Nozomi, she lives with a middle aged man (before she comes to life), where he speaks to her, dresses her in various outfits and even makes love to her. When she comes alive, she wanders out into a video store where she meets the clerk Junichi, and begins to work there, also quickly growing very fond of him. As Nozomi, Doo-na Bae, who is prettier now than when she was in "Spring Bears Love", delivers a wonderful, affecting performance. Its a role that is not easy to play, you have to first accept that she came to life. As a love story, it borders on moving. The premise sounds like it could be a tawdry film, but it really isn't. Its a bold idea as a serious film and it works. I recommend it.

John Kincaid In short: A deep, thought-provoking, beautifully filmed, and well acted piece of Japanese cinema. Bae Doona is magnificent as an inflatable doll that develops a soul and falls in love. Hirokazu Koreeda wows once again with his deliberate film making, effectively commenting on social problems dealing with urban life. Despite the fact that it is a bit slow and a bit long, Air Doll is definitely one of the better films that I've seen recently.I was finally able to watch this film (on DVD) and was impressed, more so than I thought I would be. To me, Air Doll includes aspects that make it attractive to both film festivals and commercial audiences. With the quirky and interesting premise of a sex doll that comes to life, Air Doll (which is lightly based on a manga) establishes itself as a film which seeks to appeal to modern audiences, specifically Japanese. This doll, "named" Nozomi (played by Korean actress Bae Doona), sneaks out of her owners house every day to go to work at a local video store. There, she falls in love with her coworker, Junichi (played by Arata), and learns about life--both the good and the bad.What separates Air Doll from some of Koreeda's previous work is his choice of Mark Lee as cinematographer. He films the city of Tokyo beautifully, with long, gorgeous tracking shots. This is a departure from Koreeda's usual style, of which films like Nobody Knows and Still Walking are good examples (both being pretty un-commercial). I enjoyed the cameo's by some well-established actors, including Odagiri Joe as the doll maker, Susumu Terajima as a police officer, and Kimiko Yo as an aging woman obsessed with looking young, although they were definitely not noteworthy performances. I also enjoyed the music, which moved along with the pace of the film and effectively added emotional weight to select scenes.Where I thought the film faltered was in length. It was too long, which is not a completely horrible fault in many cases, but towards the end I felt as if Koreeda had already established his point and needed to wrap it up. Length is a characteristic problem in many contemporary Japanese films. I feel as if this works for some (Love Exposure !?), but not for most. Another fault that I'd like to mention was the odd, Jdrama-like breaks in the scene where Nozomi is being repeatedly drained of air, then blown back up by Junichi in bed. The same shot was shown three times from different angles, which I found unnecessary and out of place. But that's just me being picky.Air Doll attempts to illustrate to the viewer the loneliness that exists in an urban environment such as Tokyo. He does this perfectly with the inclusion of small side stories; a nerdy otaku, a lonely old man, an aging woman obsessed with beauty, a bulimic woman suffering from depression, and other lonely people. These characters only briefly appear on the screen, giving the impression of the fleeting encounters with strangers in a big city urban environment. Bae Doona's character of the doll, Nozomi, is the highlight of the movie. She plays the character perfectly, often condensing many emotions into one and displaying all of the quirkiness of a doll that has recently discovered life. It is interesting and perfect that Koreeda cast a Korean in the roll of the doll, as it further alienates the character from the rest of the cast as well as the audience. It is also interesting to note the fact that Bae Doona was very naked during the film (being a sex doll and all), a feat that not many Japanese actresses would even dare to do. She has been nominated for--and won many--awards for best actress.--John Kincaid @ jkfilmjapan.wordpress.com/