.046 - "Dolls": emotional captivation thru visual and narrative innovation

This was a very visually and narratively captivating film. I admit that I needed a bit of patience in order to get used to the film's slow pacing and drawn out takes. But once you get accustomed to the style, there is so much cinematic innovation to discover in this movie.

For one, the cinematography in this film was mind-blowing. It reminded me a lot of the Curse of the Golden Flower in that costume and prop color also seemed to have a correlation with the primary colors of the backdrop. And to add to his use of color, the director Takeshi Kitano gives the movie an early 90s feel through his excessive use of the zoom. I'm definitely bringing back the zoom in my next film.

Second was the subjection of visual and narrative space to a character's internality. This film was filled with flashbacks. But the lack of a visual distinctiveness between flashbacks and the present made every scene have an immediacy to it since you weren't aware that it was a flashback. The downside to this visual homogenity was that the film seemed a bit muddled as it became easy to lose track of which character's head were in. However in every subplot, the character to whom a particular story affected the most was always revealed.

Third, there is the silent relationship between the two main characters of the film. Felt very Kim Ki-Duk-isque in the restrictiveness of dialogue in exchange for a higher range of facial expression. I still can't figure out how the script reads for silent scenes like the main characters'.

I'd definitely recommend this film, but beware that it might take a few days to finish it without falling asleep. :)