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Hirokazu Koreeda is one of the most interesting of the recent directors coming out of Japan and “Airdoll” is his most accessible film. The story of an inflatable sex doll that comes to life and begins having adventures in the city; it isn’t the fairytale or comedy that would seem to be the obvious narrative choice.
While several critics have described “Airdoll” as a tale of alienation, Koreeda’s characters are rarely part of a society they can be alienated from. In “Nobody Knows” – one of the best films centered on children, along with René Clément’s “Forbidden Games” and So Yong Kim’s “Treeless Mountain” – four young children deal with a neglecting, spaced-out mother. Based on a true story, it also deals with the theme of souls lost in a culture they will never assimilate into or understand.
“Afterlife” is set in a way station between this world and whatever is next. Usually, these kinds of films really annoy me but “Afterlife” is a clever take on death and memory. What the film lacks is characters justifying their lives and that makes these kinds of films so tedious and preachy. In “Afterlife,” the dead get to make a film of their favorite memory to take with them to wherever it is they are going.
Koreeda’s first film, “Maborosi,” is the story of a woman plagued by a past event and the effect it has on her current situation. Beautifully shot – as most of Koreeda’s films are – there are traces of Ozu and Mizoguchi in some of the scenes. The last scene at the beach is riveting.
“Hana” is a black comedy revenge story that unfolds around the historic event of the 47 Ronin in 1702. Sozaemon travels to Edo to avenge his father’s killing. Things don’t go as he planned and an unusual samurai story unfolds.
Haven’t seen “Still Walking” or “Distance” will add them when I do.