MovieChat Forums > Dôruzu (2002) Discussion > Kitanos best film

Kitanos best film

posted 20 years ago by ChainsawDaveandMisterShoop
23 replies | jump to latest

this film seems to have got a mixed reaction from casual observers and Kitano die-hards alike.

after being a Kitano fan for years i was personally disappointed by brother, feeling he was retreading old ground without any of the visual flair and thought provoking material of my favourite Kitano films.

so for some reason i thought Dolls was going to continue this trend and leave me disappointed like Brother.

however, after watching this film i fell in love with his films all over again, dolls is his best work by a long shot, not just the visual beauty but the effortless swith between stories and shift between love as a beautiful powerful force and love as a selfish controlling burden. magnificent.

what a genius

[–] 20 years ago

[deleted]

[–] MonteVerdi 20 years ago

i don't know if it's his best work since this is my 3rd kitano.
usually i'm more into the yakuza stuff.
but this film is beautiful and it touched my soul.
i totally agree with the pre-posters.

[–] Immortally 20 years ago

I think Hana-bi, Sonatine, Dolls, Kikujiro no natsu and Zatôichi are Kitanos best films.

[–] The_Coma-Man 20 years ago

Mine are:

Sonatine and Hana-Bi: 11 My favourites!
Dolls: 11 Close follow up!

Kikujiro: 10
Brother: 10
Zatoichi: 10
Kids Return: 9 1/2

--
VOTE JACOB'S LADDER INTO THE TOP 250's!!!
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0099871

[–] ChainsawDaveandMisterShoop 20 years ago

doesnt anyone rate boiling point?

[–] marsobig 20 years ago

I'd rate his films like this:
1. Sonatine- ****
2. Kikujiro- ****
3. Brother- ****
4. Fireworks- ****
5. Getting Any?- *** 1/2 (Doesn't anyone rate this?)
6. Kids Return- *** 1/2
7. Violent Cop- *** 1/2
8. A Scene at the Sea- ***
9. Dolls- ***
10. Boiling Point- ** 1/2

I've seen Zatoichi, all the way through, WITHOUT subtitles and it was great. Hopefully they'll release it soon here in Portland. I'll see it on DVD at least.

[–] kaycen 20 years ago

For me it's probably:

1. Kikujiro
2. Dolls
3. Hana-bi
4. Kids Return
5. Zatoichi
6. Brother

I'd add Sonatine to the list, but I only got to see half of it a very long time ago, on a bad VHS.

[–] bienetre 20 years ago

I've just finished watching Dolls a second time. I guess it's a matter of opinion but I thought this movie didn't rank very high on his "best of" list.

Initially, through the juxtaposition of three different stories, this movie deals - I'm guessing - with the unbreakable bonds of love. The further I watched this movie, the more I found that this love nearly steps into the realm of an exercise in futility. It is touching to see the young man remain by the side of his now mentally scarred ex-girlfriend, but to do so to the extent where you throw away everything else and ultimately become like her (appearance wise, at least) constitutes a feeling of sadness rather than admiration for his actions. The red cord almost adopts a feeling of suffocating constrait and mutual immutability as they trek throughout the land. Maybe I lost something but I felt 'what a shame'. Maybe that's Kitano's message; that love is something for which there is no happy ending and no escape. I dunno : /.

It was interesting to read someone else's post regarding the red cord and its symbolism. I would even pitch in that the red cord could easily symbolize an umbilical cord, among other things.

Cheers,

Eric

[–] rainbowthief 20 years ago

Dolls is finally getting a U.S. theatrical release, thanks to the huge success of Zatoichi. I hope American critics can appreciate the movie and don't bury it because Kitano has never been this hot in the U.S., not even when Hana-bi came out.

Anyone who hasn't seen it should check it out. I really think it's Kitano's finest work and the reason it received such a mixed reaction from fans and critics is because it was such a huge departure from his previous films, which were mostly Yakuza and police dramas. It's a very "femenine" film, for lack of a better term, with a beautful score by Joe Hisaishi and breathtaking cinematography and costume design. Hopefully Criterion will finally notice Kitano and release deluxe DVDs of Dolls, Hana-bi and other great Kitano movies.

[–] StainBoy 19 years ago

This excellent film, one of my favorites, is now getting an official DVD release in America on March 8th! As far as ranking Kitano's films, for me the rundown is something like:

1. Dolls
2. Kids Return
3. Sonatine
4. Hana-Bi
5. Zatoichi
6. Violent Cop
7. Brother
8. Kikujiro
9. Bioling Point
10. A Scene at the Sea
11. Getting Any?

It's been a while since I've seen a lot of these, so my ranking could change slightly with time, but the top five are definitely my favorites. All incredible works of art.

[–] ashingtray 17 years ago

i think it doesn't matter which
are his best. or their ratings.

of his discography, we can
tell already that he is very
well-maintained quality director.

-chinyew

[–] Zero-Beat 17 years ago

For me it's probably something alone the lines of:

1. Dolls
2. Kikujiro
3. Zatoichi
4. Hana-Bi
5. Sonatine

I think generally Kitano's work has improved, become more subtle and complex, over time.

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] hickey2 16 years ago

Funny you mention the symbolism of the red cord, because the strangest thing happened to me when I watched this movie. I had it sitting on my hard drive for a long time before I finally decided to watch it one day, and about an hour before I sat down to watch it I was looking up something I had written in Japanese to a friend a while ago--for some reason I had called her "akaimewoman" which would literally translate to "red-eye woman," but I had called her that a while ago and couldn't remember why, or if there was some less obvious meaning to red-eye woman than I was remembering. So I hopped on Jim Breen's dictionary to look up "akaime" but found nothing; instead, there was this suggestion: "akaiito," defined as "red string (traditionally fated lovers are joined by this unseen string." Less than an hour later, I sat down to watch Dolls for the first time ever and what do I see--a red cord binding two fated lovers. The coincidence freaks me out, but I LOVED this movie.

SPOILER--DON'T READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THIS YET!

I wept like a baby when she patted him on the shoulder and showed him the necklace =,(

[–] willden21 19 years ago

Dolls is one of his weaker films. It falls with Brother as being very dissapointing. Thank God he gave us Zatoichi recently or I would begin to lose hope in one of Japans masters.

1. Zatoichi
2. Kikujiro
3. Hana-Bi
4. Kids Return
5. Sonatine
6. a Scene at the Sea
7. Boiling Point
8. Violent Cop
9. Getting Any?
10. Dolls
11. Brother

Please Kitano, please keep making good films like Zatoichi, Kikujiro, and Hana-Bi(aka Fireworks)!!!

I find many people get very involved with a certain genre, many just like his yakuza films, or just his dramas, or just his comedies. I think he has done good and bad with all genre, but I hope he gets more involved with the samarai pics, his version of Zatoichi is one of the best ever.

[–] k99z 19 years ago

Dolls have too much silence and unneccesary shots of them two walkin, i mean too much, also mentally illed people, i think the only people are normal is the yakuza boss and the singer (main characters). i dont think it's Takeshi Kitano's best film. After all, it's the violence that made him famous, i'm more into the bad-ass-sunglasses-gun-suit.

I've seen all his films except Zatoichi, Kids Return, a Scene at the Sea, Getting Any?, and Kikujiro; so 'll rate the ones i've seen like this:

1.Hana-bi aka Fireworks (no crap the best one)
2.Violent Cop (it's just fun to watch him beat up and shoots people in the face)
3.Sonatine (wonderful, but too bad not enough violence)
4.Brother (BANG BANG, "i understand *beep* jap *beep*
5.Dolls (Very good film, just the retarded people bothers me)
6.Gonin (Mr. Cold-Blooded, but not Kitano directed, and i don't like gay stuff)
7.Boiling Point (the movie has no music, and the gay stuff is just sick)

[–] cactus_jack_99 19 years ago

I guess I just didn't "get" Hana-Bi, but I freakin' hated it.

1.) Dolls
2.) The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi
3.) Sonatine
4.) Kikujiro
5.) Brother
6.) Hana-Bi

These are the only ones I've seen, though I'll try to see his earlier yakuza stuff. Also...wasn't he hilarious in Johnny Mnemonic? "Not in the head." I thought it was funny.

"Creasy's art is death. He's about to paint his masterpiece." Christopher Walken, Man on Fire

[–] Kinematico 16 years ago

I have seen so far only a handful of Kitano's films, the ones available at my local video rental store.

From the ones I've seen, now I'm having a hard time guessing which one is the best film, if Kikujiro or Dolls.

Both are magnificent and deeply human, but Kikujiro is basically a comedy while Dolls is a sad tale, a fatalistic story on lost love. Lost by accident or "on purpose".

I'd call for a draw here, because I think I still have to digest completely Dolls before to pick which one is better.

after Dolls/Kikujiro IMO comes Hana-bi, Brother and Zatoichi, in that order. I haven't seen the rest as I said before.

[–] StatelessRich 15 years ago

1. Sonatine
2. Kikujiro
3. Hanabi
4. Brother
5. A Scene at the Sea

is my top 5. I haven't watched a Kitano film I disliked.

[–] Oskiros-Arg 15 years ago

I not agree.
I´m Kitano fan, I saw almost all his movies.
Dolls is one of that I not like.

Oscar from Rosario City
Argentina

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] infra5 13 years ago

1. Kikujiro
2. Sonatine
3. Kids Return
4. Hana-Bi
5. Zatoichi
6. Dolls

[–] Rainer90 10 years ago

I'm part of the minority but I think Dolls is the best Kitano film by far. It's so poetic and I love its impressionistic style. This film is reminiscent of the films of Tarkovksy and Kieslowski which is probably why I like it so much since they're my two favorite directors.