Air Doll

Sex dolls are a thing now, aren't they, Richard Herring?! And for certain corners of the world a part of everyday life. For some even part of the family: not just a sex doll but a surrogate family member for the lonely to love, cherish and woo-hoo as a significant other.

That's the life of Hideo (Itsuji Itao) anyway, and his charming "wife" Nozomi (perky-breasted Bae Doona - though initially an actual blow-up doll). The couple live together is Hideo's small apartment, him working long hours away at a restaurant, coming home to Nozomi to have dinner with her and then take her to bed, always remembering to remove and clean the detachable vagina afterwards.

That is until one day when the naked Nozomi - again left in Hideo's bed - wakes up and becomes human. As Hideo has a fully stocked wardrobe of clothes for her in true Barbie doll fashion, she is able to get herself dressed and walk the streets...and browse the local video store...and get herself a job in said video store.

Nozomi soon carves out an actual life out for herself, becoming a part of the team and getting intimate with work colleague Junichi (ARATA). Hideo soon is just someone she has to make sure she is waiting for in bed each night. Though eventually Hideo soon has no need for Nozomi - finding himself a newer model. Nozomi, therefore, reveals her new trick and promptly walks out on him, straight to the bed of Junichi. But while becoming human in form, Nozomi is still far from human in soul, resulting in tragic consequences at her lack of understanding of human life.

"Air Doll" is the exact type of film you would expect to come from Japan, being unusual, perverted, but with an interesting layer sitting beneath the surface. Nozomi looks at Tokyo life from an outsider's perspective and maybe isn't always too impressed with human kind, least of all Hideo. Dolls are an important feature of Japanese culture which has a penchant for creating mascots and characters that become almost real for their admirers; taking various forms and styles as if celebrities reinventing themselves.

Like a baby with a teddy bear, Hideo creates a character for Nozomi that is his artificial ideal, rather than trying to interact with other humans, mirroring the hikikomori phenomenon of the recluse in Japanese society. As with the Puppet Master in "Ghost in the Shell", Nozomi is the child of a detached society where humans have rejected basic human interaction.

Written and directed by Japan's foremost director Kore-eda Hirokazu, alongside "After Life" this is one of his oddest films, and unusual in his oeuvre, featuring more explicit scenes than one would expect from him. The look and feel of the film is also different from his other works, feeling more like Shunji Iwai or Jun Ichikawa. And while a distinctly Japanese film, the cinematography comes from Taiwanese Lee Ping-bin, with South Korean leading lady Bae Doona taking on the title role.

Speaking of the aforementioned, the cinematography reflects the artifice of the metropolis as Nozomi wanders the streets of the lesser-known parts of Tokyo, with an evening twilight feel throughout. Bae Doona also gives a believable (if it can be that) performance as a blow-up doll come to life. Her movements are naturally unnatural, and perhaps the casting of a non-Japanese suited the outsider gaze necessary for the role.

Kore-eda takes his unconventional family dramas to a new level with "Air Doll", and perhaps in doing so he has made his worst film. The everyday is what works best for him, and "Air Doll" of course lacks that. But the worst of an excellent bunch isn't too bad, and while lacking reality, there is a realism in Nozomi and the scenario that she finds herself in. The end for Nozomi is one that will always prove the case when dealing with that which is disposable. But perhaps humans are now treated this way too easily.