A life-size Air Doll (Doona Bae) lives in a shabby apartment in Tokyo. She cannot speak, nor can she move. But she is the only companion her middle-aged master has. He talks to her, puts her in a bath and makes love with her every evening after he returns home from work.
This routine life is disrupted when fantasy turns into reality. The Air Doll suddenly comes to life, filled with a soul. Like a newborn baby, she doesn't understand what is going on around her, but she sees a world waiting to be explored outside the apartment. Eventually venturing to the outside world, the Air Doll is fascinated by everything she sees, and though she meets many people in all walks of life, they can't seem to provide her an answer to what "being alive" means.
When the Air Doll wanders into a video store, her world is forever changed. She meets Junichi, the clerk, and immediately falls in love with him. Air Doll begins working in the store and each and every day, she and Junichi become closer: they go to the movies and explore the city together like a couple. Everything is going perfectly for the Air Doll, until one day her hand is accidentally cut and she begins to deflate in front of Junichi.
A romantic fantasy that explores the complexities of love and loss, joy and pain, fantasy and reality, Air Doll (Kûki ningyô) is a recent work from the internationally acclaimed filmmaker Kore-eda Hirokazu, the director of Maborosi, After Life and Still Walking.
Air Doll will be released on UK DVD on 26th November 2012 by Matchbox Films at the RRP of £15.99.
