This was the first film I saw at MIFF this year, and it was a good way to start. This is a Japanese film directed by Hirokazu Koreeda and it is about a blow-up sex doll (!) who “finds a heart” and becomes real and lives a life of her own. Korean superstar Bae Doo-Na plays the titular “air doll” and is fantastic, making you fully believe that she is a doll in the first half of the film.
What I liked about the film was the fact that it didn’t go where I thought it was going. I assumed that the doll would realise how great humanity was and that she would fall in love. This does happen but it also goes much further to a darker finale and ends up being a commentary on today’s society and issues such as loneliness, consumerism, lack of human contact and the disposable nature (including feelings towards other people) of humanity in these times. The only flaw with the film is that it makes these points early on, making the film seem a little bloated (shaving 20 minutes off the running time would be perfect).
Overall though, the film was really great with a super (if bleak) ending, with Mark Li-Ping’s cinematography being a highlight (as usual).
3.5 Stars - Viewed at the 2010 Melbourne International Film Festival
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