Three stories of love and disappointment intertwine in this modern-day fable: on his wedding day, Matsumoto (Nishijima) discovers that his jilted girlfriend and true love, Sawako (Kanno), has attempted suicide and is now mentally impaired; a yakuza crime boss (Mihashi) reminisces about the woman he loved as a youth, and decides to return to their meeting spot; and a pop singer (Fukada), disfigured in a car accident, confronts one of her most devoted fans.

Best known as the writer-director of soulful, often violent yakuza art flicks such as "Sonatine" and "Fireworks," Kitano here works in a lush minor key, opening his film with a visual motif borrowed from ancient Japanese puppet theater. Laden with symbols and color-saturated glimpses of tethered lovers Matsumoto and Sawako wandering through parkland arbors, "Dolls" has an aesthetic that is both eye-pleasing and immersive. But essentially, the three tales ponder the same question: what is the meaning of a life lived for money or success, without love?