Takeshi Kitano’s films always contain intense energy hidden beneath their apparent tranquility and reticence. Sometimes that energy can be violence and, at other times, obsession. Dolls is a film about love that is controlled and restrained on the surface. The three love stories express the unique perspective of Takeshi Kitano on the meaning of love. In the film, Kitano explores ‘the violence of love’ that is expressed in the form of obsession. Obsessive love is violent. It dominates a person’s fate, and she or he can never escape from it. These stories of absolute and fatal love adopt the conventions of melodrama, but they are distinctively in ‘Takeshi Kitano style’. They deal with typically melodramatic elements such as ‘belated reunion’ and ‘death at the peak of happiness’. However, the way the characters declare their love and their obsession with love deviates from such typical generic elements. Furthermore, the extreme beauty of the landscapes of the four seasons in Japan is rather tragic - it emphasizes the insanity of obsession rather than the beauty of love, which is why the film is truly ironic. (Kim Ji-seok)