Air Doll
Now available on BluRay
Air Doll
Japan • 2009A present-day fable for the increasing disconnect we find in urban life, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Air Doll transports the Galatea myth to present day Tokyo.
A life-size air doll (Bae Doona, The Host) lives in a shabby apartment in Tokyo. She cannot speak, nor can she move. But she is the only companion her middle-aged master has. He talks to her, puts her in a bath, and makes love with her every day after he returns from work.
This routine life is disrupted when fantasy turns into reality. The air doll suddenly comes to life, filled with a soul. Like a newborn baby, she doesn’t understand what is going on around her, but she sees a world waiting to be explored outside the apartment. Eventually venturing to the outside world, the air doll is fascinated by everything she sees, and though she meets many people in all walks of life, they can’t seem to provide her an answer to what “being alive” means.
When the air doll wanders into a video store, her world is forever changed. She meets Junichi (Arata Iura, After Life), the clerk, and immediately falls in love with him. The air doll begins working in the store and everyday, she and Junichi become closer. They go to the movies and explore the city together…like a couple. Everything is going perfectly for the air doll, until one day when her hand is accidentally cut and she begins to deflate in front of Junichi…
A romantic fantasy that explores the complexities of love and loss, joy and pain, fantasy and reality, this bittersweet love story examines the intricacies and frailties of human existence.
Adapted from the manga by Yoshiie Goda and featuring breathtaking cinematography from Mark Lee Ping-Bing (In The Mood For Love).
Written & Directed by: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Starring: Bae Doona, Arata Iura, Itsuji Itao
Run time: 116 minutes
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: English
Color: Color
Format: 1.85:1
Sound: 5.1
NOW STREAMING
PAST SCREENINGS
Amherst Cinema Amherst, MA • Austin Film Society Austin, TX • Avalon Theatre Washington D.C • Billy Wilder Theater Los Angeles, CA • Chelsea Theater Chapel Hill, NC • Chicago International Film Festival Chicago, IL • Cleveland Cinematheque Cleveland, OH • George Eastman House Rochester, NY • Guild Cinema Albuquerque, NM • IFC Center New York, NY • Jacob Burns Film Center Pleasantville, NY • Japan Society New York, NY • Laemmle Glendale Glendale, CA • Laemmle Monica Film Center Santa Monica, CA • Laemmle Theaters Los Angeles, CA • Lumiere Cinema Beverly Hills, CA • Metrograph New York, NY • MSP Film Society Minneapolis, MN • Newport Beach Film Festival Newport Beach, CA • Northwest Film Center Portland, OR • Onyx Theatre Nevada City, CA • Palm Springs International Film Festival Palm Springs, CA • Roxie Theater San Francisco, CA • Salt Lake Film Society Salt Lake City, UT • San Francisco International Film Festival San Francisco, CA • Seattle International Film Festival Seattle, WA • The Clairidge Montclair, NJ • Varsity Cinema Des Moine, IA • Webster Film Series Saint Louis, MO
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