Air Doll
| Air Doll | |
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Promotional poster
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| Directed by | Hirokazu Koreeda |
| Produced by | Hirokazu Koreeda Toshiro Uratani |
| Written by | Hirokazu Koreeda (screenplay) Yoshiie Gōda (original manga) |
| Starring |
Bae Doona Arata Itsuji Itao |
| Music by | World's End Girlfriend |
| Cinematography | Pin Bing Lee |
| Edited by | Hirokazu Koreeda |
| Distributed by |
Asmik Ace Entertainment Fortissimo Films Ocean Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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125 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Box office | $1,130,635 |
Air Doll (空気人形 Kūki Ningyō?) is a 2009 Japanese drama film directed by Hirokazu Koreeda. It is based on the manga series Kuuki Ningyo by Yoshiie Gōda, which was serialized in the seinen manga magazine Big Comic Original, and is about an inflatable doll that develops a consciousness and falls in love. The movie debuted in the Un Certain Regard section at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. It opened in Japanese cinemas on 26 September 2009.
Director Koreeda has stated that the film is about the loneliness of urban life and the question of what it means to be human.
Middle-aged Hideo lives alone with an inflatable sex doll he calls Nozomi. The doll is his closest companion; he dresses her, talks to her over dinner, takes her for walks in a wheelchair, and has sexual intercourse with her.
While Hideo is at work, Nozomi comes to life. She dresses in her maid's outfit and explores the world outside their apartment with wonder. Eventually she takes a job in a video store and becomes romantically involved with one of the employees, Junichi. When she accidentally cuts herself and deflates, Junichi repairs the tear with adhesive tape and re-inflates her.
One day, Hideo visits the store; she serves him, embarrassed, but he does not recognise her. Her boss presumes that Hideo is her boyfriend and that she is cheating on Junichi. She allows him to have sex with her. At their home, Hideo discovers Nozomi is no longer a doll. He asks her to return to lifelessness, as he finds human relationships "annoying". Hurt, she runs away from him.
Nozomi goes to the factory where she was created and meets her maker. He tells her that he believes all the dolls have hearts, as he can tell from their faces when they are returned what kind of treatment they received. When she asks what happens to used dolls, he says he throws them out with the garbage.
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