I'm home.
I should've listened to you and taken my umbrella
I'm dripping wet.
So I called him outside on his lunch break and I told him,
"There's lots of guys waiting to take your place."
Right at the busiest time of the lunch hour,
he was just spacing out in the kitchen.
He's totally useless.
Who does he think runs that place?
What?
I think he's 3 years younger than me.
That's right, he's an only child.
His parents totally spoiled him Unbelievable.
Well, who cares about him anyway.
What do you think? It's so late already.
Skip the bath tonight?
Nozomi… You're beautiful.
Nozomi…
Welcome.
Yes, just a moment.
Welcome.
It's so cold.
You're beautiful today, too
I'm off
Beau-ti-ful
Beau-ti-ful.
AIR DOLL
Moe! Hey, wait!
Oh, I forgot.
Off you go!
I'm off!
I'm off…
Burnable. Burnable.
Burnable…
Not burnable.
Burnable.
Burnable, not burnable.
Kishida! The stickers!
Thank you.
Not burnable.
Burnable.
Burnable…
Thank you.
Do you remember when that family
was murdered in that upper-class neighborhood?
It says here it happened on the 20th of last month.
A judge and his wife
and their daughter, a pianist.
Each of them murdered in their sleep, late at night.
The murderer was already arrested He was a failed student.
Her parents wouldn't let him date their daughter.
"Don't copy me.
“Mr. Echo.
"Mr. Copycat."
Cold!
Come here.
Rio!
Yuzu! Yuzuki! Come here.
Haruna! Come!
Yuuki!
Cinema Circus Video Rental Shop.
Are you looking for something?
Help Wanted.
Here we are!
This hill!
Pretending to go straight!
It warmed you up.
I found myself with a heart…
With a heart I was not supposed to have.
Movies are made with film.
Light passes through it and on to a screen.
Film.
Right.
You never watched a movie?
That's just a substitute. You have to watch movies in a movie theater.
Movie… theater?
Kids these days are unbelievable.
What have you seen at a theater recently?
Me?
You know…
There's this one or…
But you can't beat.
"Battles Without Honor and Humanity."
"Battles Without Honor and Humanity…"
Battles…
Without…
Don't worry, don't worry.
It'll be fine. Don't worry about what your boss told you.
I don't see you that way at all.
So don't you worry.
I can't believe they keep
that useless guy in charge.
What are they thinking? Right, exactly.
Thank you very much.
Thank you…
What are you looking for?
What?
Wasn't "Battles" great?
“I've still got bullets left, Yamamori san".
Didn't you watch Part One?
Part Two is "Hiroshima" Want to rent both?
What are you doing for Christmas, Nozomi?
With your boyfriend?
Your boyfriend, your favorite guy.
You have one, right?
No.
Really?
Yes.
The first time
I asked out my wife was to see “Love Story…
I told a lie.
Because I found a heart, I told a lie
“Planet of the Apes"
“Purple Noon".
Chaplin's “The Great Dictator".
Junichi likes musicals.
Musicals are fun movies with singing and dancing.
"There's Something About Mary" is supposed to be really funny.
The water's just right.
You've got to get all the way in.
Your only flaw is that your body's so cold.
Can you tell?
Smells great It's a popular shampoo
I spent 100 Yen more than the usual shampoo
100 Yen makes a big difference.
Great…
Lucky you. You don't age.
I… found a white hair down there.
What a shock.
I wonder how much longer I can make love with you.
So damned pretty.
The Winter Triangle.
Don't make me repeat myself.
Can't you ever remember?
There's Sirius.
And Procyon.
And Betelgeuse.
That's not true You're beautiful, too.
No point being jealous of the stars.
I am an air doll.
A substitute for handling sexual desire.
Nozomi… Always stay beside me.
Do you like it?
What is up there?
Up in the sky, there's air And clouds float there.
At night, the moon and the stars come out.
It's invisible so you can't see it But it's there.
You can't see it, but it's there.
Hard to understand.
Is that the ocean?
Yes, that's right.
Have you never seen the ocean?
No.
There's so many boats.
What does it mean ”To get old?”
It means aging and getting closer to death.
Death?
Yes.
Losing life.
Life…
Even here, you can smell the sea.
This smell reminds me of my childhood.
Reminds me, too…
You can eat your broccoli.
Aren't you going to eat?
No.
Moe, that's not a comb.
But Ariel was doing it.
Who?
A-ri-el.
Oh, Ariel… Right, she was.
You don't know, Daddy I saw it with Mommy.
Oh, excuse me.
A beer.
And also, what I asked for before.
Yes, sir.
Hey, you ate your carrot?
Yeah.
Wow!
You can eat the rest then, too.
Hey, what happened?
A blackout?
Is it a blackout?
What?
A birthday.
A birthday?
They're celebrating the day she was born into this world.
Look, a present from your mom.
Blow them out.
Does everybody have one? A birthday?
What's that?
White clover.
White clover… White clover…
That's a dandelion.
Is this about to be born, now?
No, it's already wilted.
Poor thing.
But it has to die someday.
Otherwise the world would be overrun.
Hard to understand.
What else do you want to know?
I want to know more about you.
"Candy…"
"5,980 Yen"
I'm home.
Were you lonely?
Okabe suddenly took the day off.
What's he thinking…
I'm an air doll.
A late model, cheap one…
A girl called Ari or Mari or something,
is combing her hair with a fork, like this…
You don't know?
Oh, no…
That must be “The Little Mermaid" It's over here.
Oh, you have it. Thanks.
I'm sorry…
A movie with a super-bad cop in it.
Like a totally corrupt cop, making bad drug deals, rotten to the core.
Rotten?
Yeah. Got anything?
Then, how about,
“Bad Lieutenant," Abel Ferrara.
Is it really bad?
It's more than bad Harvey Keitel is the worst.
The worst…
Why don't you rent "Donnie Brasco," too?
AI Pacino plays a guy in the mafia.
- And Johnny Depp is a cop? - Yeah
- I already saw it. - Oh, you did.
Excuse me…
You can wipe them off with this.
The lines.
Lines?
"Dreams?"
“Dream…"
"Dream?"
OK, how about Theo Angelopoulos'
“The Beekeeper…
Gelo?
Angelo…
Across the river there's a big DVD store.
You can't rent “Dream of Light," You have to buy it.
“The Beekeeper" comes in a box set,
so you probably can't rent it, even there.
Thanks.
Across the river…
Thank you
I'm sorry…
I am useless…
What's your name?
Look at the flowers.
What's the flower called?
Excuse me
I'm sorry
I'm sorry.
Excuse me.
Say, do you know a bug called the mayfly?
The mayfly…
Dies a day or two after it gives birth.
So its body is empty.
No stomach or intestines.
It's filled with eggs instead.
It's a creature that's born only to give birth.
Humans aren't so different.
Pointless…
I'm empty, too…
A marvelous coincidence I'm the same…
I'm all empty.
I wonder if there are others.
These days, everybody is
everybody?
Yes, especially,
everyone living in this kind of city.
You're not the only one.
Say, do you know this poem?
Poem?
You don't know poems?
Doesn't matter.
"Life is…"
Life is…
Let's see, “life is…"
Let's see, life is?
It seems life
is constructed in a way
that no one can fulfill it alone.
Just as
it's not enough for flowers
to have pistils and stamens.
An insect or a breeze
must introduce a pistil to a stamen.
Life contains its own absence,
which only an Other can fulfill.
It seems the world is the summation of Others.
And yet,
We neither know nor are told
that we will fulfill each other.
We lead our scattered lives,
perfectly unaware of each other…
Welcome, would you like to buy a cake?
The master has come home.
Welcome back, Master.
Or at times, allowed to find
the Other's presence disagreeable.
Why is it,
that the world is constructed so loosely?
I'm Misato.
How old are you, Misato?
I'm 24
24…
Misato, do you know a good restaurant nearby?
I just started yesterday
I understand.
What do you like?
I like pasta
I like pasta, too!
I want Extra Rice
I want Extra Rice, too.
Cancel the ham and cheese hamburg steak.
Lunch specials?
More water with lots of ice.
Right away
I'll take the lunch special instead.
The lunch special?
The suspect, Kume, confessed that
he had bought one gram from a foreigner for 7,000 Yen when he traveled to Osaka.
So expensive…
A horse fly,
bathed in light,
flies in close
to a blooming flower.
I, too, might have been
someone's horse fly.
Perhaps you, too,
had once been my breeze.
No customers…
No…
I hope it'll be OK.
I like it here…
This store.
What's the name of the movie adapted
from a Stephen King novel, starring River Phoenix when he was 15?
"Stand by Me."
Correct.
Great!
OK, then,
the Hollywood movie that became Matsuda Yusaku's last film?
Don't look…
Air… You need air…
Where's the plug?
Stomach.
Sorry.
Don't look…
But…
You're… Fine now.
A little… while longer…
I'm off.
Going to get old.
You see, I'm going to get old.
Were you surprised?
Yeah.
But…
But I hear there are plenty of others like me.
Someone said that.
Me, too…
Really?
I'm not so different.
I see. But…
I guess you're right.
When I first met you, I sort of felt,
that you were just like me.
A marv…
I hit the jackpot at Pachinko.
A marvelous… Coincidence.
What?
Nothing.
So damned pretty.
There's Sirius and Procyon.
How did you get an Osaka accent?
An Osaka accent?
A movie I saw a movie.
What was it called…
The other day… How did you feel?
The other day?
In the store.
Oh, when you breathed into me?
No…
When the air left your body.
Was it painful?
Yes.
It was painful.
Having a heart
was heartbreaking.
Misato's only virtue is that she's young.
They'll stop spoiling her soon.
She's just a part-time employee That's all.
That's right.
She's not going to last long anyway.
You don't need to worry about her.
But…
It'll be fine.
You know there's no one that can take your place.
Really?
7:18 PM, the 9th.
He said, "My pension's gone You stole it, didn't you".
He just kept accusing me over and over,
and I just got so mad…
I'm sorry.
No, no, that happened in Osaka.
The suspect confessed and has been arrested.
Don't worry.
It has nothing to do with you.
Nothing?
Nothing at all.
I've got work I can't visit until spring.
Listen, did you come here while I was out?
I told you not to clean up my stuff.
Did you throw it out?
Well, it's not that important.
Why don't you give them to your neighbors?
How strange.
Your sister's having her second baby next year.
You don't have to grow apples with us, but it's time you come home.
Can't you remember how to take orders? You've worked here for years now.
It's fine with me if you want to quit.
There's lots of guys waiting to take your place.
What's so funny It's revolting when you smile.
Sorry.
Movies for Crying.
Excuse me.
Hello.
How can I help?
This one.
Thank you for your business.
Did you guys already do it?
You did it with Junichi, right?
You don't have to hide it You're seeing him, right?
No.
Is that your boyfriend?
I saw you in the park.
You were with him.
I bet Junichi doesn't know about that guy.
You do this with anybody.
Girls these days…
Harue…
Hey, touch me. Here.
Hey, touch me…
Here…
Harue.
I am an air doll.
A substitute for handling sexual desire.
I am…
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday, dear Nozomi.
Nozomi…
How is it?
Nozomi…
The white star of the first magnitude, Procyon.
The triangle linking those three stars
is called The Winter Triangle.
Got that?
Oh, no, I'll get wet.
I have to pee.
What?
Um… Nozomi?
You bought her a cake Is it her birthday?
No…
I got one for you, too On the day I welcomed you here.
I don't know… I don't remember that
I really did.
I took a picture.
I…
I found a heart.
A heart?
Yes, a heart.
Why?
I don't know.
Tell me, what do you like about me?
What do I like?
You don't know, do you?
Even the name, Nozomi, is your old girlfriend's name.
You read my blog?
I'm just a substitute for her.
But…
I mean…
Sure, at first, I was lonely without her.
But now, it's different.
No, what am I saying…
Why me?
Why?
It doesn't have to be me, right?
Right?
The picture…
Listen, will you do me a favor?
Can you go back to being the old doll?
The old doll?
Yeah, the normal, plain old doll Can't you?
You wish I hadn't found a heart?
Yeah.
It's just annoying.
This stuff annoys me, which is why I chose you in the first place
I'm annoying…
What a mean thing to say.
That's not what I mean, it's not.
You're not annoying, it's humans who are.
Nozomi!
Thank you.
I hate dogs.
They get old so fast
and die before you know it.
Having a dog just makes you lonely.
Is this you?
Yes
I used to be a substitute high school teacher.
A substitute?
That's right.
I was always an empty substitute.
Were you lonely?
I wonder…
I can't remember anymore.
Do you mind,
touching me?
That feels so good.
Me, too… See?
They always say, people with cold hands,
have warm hearts.
Maybe it's just a superstition…
Welcome home
I'm home.
I made you, but I don't know the answer.
But I doubt even God knows
why the humans he made have hearts.
Do you wish you'd never found a heart?
I don't know, but…
It hurts.
They all started out the same,
but by the time they come back here,
you can tell from their faces whether they've been loved.
I think that must mean they all have hearts, too.
What will happen to them?
Once a year, in spring, I throw them all away.
Unfortunately, they're "Not burnable garbage".
Not burnable garbage.
After all, once we die, we're "Burnable garbage".
It's not such a big difference.
Burnable garbage.
Can you tell me one thing?
Was everything you saw in this world sad?
Was there something, anything, that was beautiful?
I'm glad to hear that.
Thank you for having me.
No, thank you.
Off you go
I'm off.
I don't mind if I'm a substitute for someone else.
You're not a substitute for anyone
I'll do anything for you.
That's what I was born for.
Whatever you want.
Really?
Yes.
I can do whatever I want?
Yes, whatever you want.
I couldn't ask anyone else, but…
With you…
Something only I can do?
Yes.
What is it?
I want to let out your air.
Let out my air?
Yes.
But…
Don't worry
I'll breathe into you like before.
But…
Why?
Sure, do whatever you want.
Where's your plug?
I'll fill you with my breath.
Just like you did for me.
I couldn't breathe
my breath into Junichi.
You alone?
You are alone.
What a jerk.
I found a heart.
Did you see the news?
They found his body in the trash.
Just across the river.
Let's trade.
Moe, don't touch the garbage.
OK
Off you go
I'm off.
Mommy.
Hey!
Moe! Your gym clothes!
Beautiful.
Bae Doona.
ARATA
ITAO Itsuji.
TAKAHASHI Masaya.
YO Kimiko.
IWAMATSU Ryo.
HOSHINO Mari.
TERAJIMA Susumu.
ODAGIRI Joe.
FUJI Sumiko.
Executive Producers KAWASHIRO Kazumi SHIGENOBU Yutaka.
HISAMATSU Takeo TESHIMA Masao.
Development Producer YASUDA Masahiro.
Based on the original graphic novel ”Gouda's Philosophical Discourse, 'The Pneumatic Figure of a Girl'" by Yoshiie Gouda, published by Shogakukan, Inc.
Producers URATANI Toshiro KORE-EDA Hirokazu.
Cinematographer Mark Lee Ping-bing.
Art Direction TANEDA Yohei.
Production Design KANEKO Hiroki.
Lighting OSHITA Eiji.
Sound TSURUMAKI Yutaka.
Music world's end girlfriend.
Produced by ENGINE FILM, INC. BANDAI VISUAL CO., LTD. TV MAN UNION, INC. EISEI GEKIJO CO., LTD. ASMIK ACE ENTERTAINMENT, INC.
Production Company TV MAN UNION, INC.
Written, Edited and Directed by KORE-EDA Hirokazu.
English Subtitles Linda Hoaglund ©2009 Yoshiie Gouda, Shogakukan / AIR DOLL Production Committee