Dolls takes puppeteering as its overriding motif, which relates thematically to the action provided by the live characters. Chief among those tales is the story of Matsumoto and Sawako, a young couple whose relationship is about to be broken apart by the former's parents, who have insisted their son take part in an arranged marriage to his boss' daughter.
In the aftermath of a car crash, a man discovers his dreams are tied to a stranger's sleepwalking.
Is there love after death? After he dies suddenly, the hapless advertising executive Daniel Miller finds himself in Judgment City, a gleaming way station where the newly deceased must prove they lived a life of sufficient courage to advance in their journey through the universe. As the self-doubting Daniel struggles to make his case, a budding relationship with the uninhibited Julia offers him a chance to finally feel alive.
A subway enforcement officer working in the oppressively gray Budapest metro gets a chance at love — but first he needs to find out why passengers are jumping — or being pushed — to their deaths onto the tracks.
L'uomo proiettile
A stranger who may be the trickster magician Kummatty comes to a village in Malabar, India.
As Alex struggles with disturbing hallucinations, his wife Vera tries to help, until they both experience their own profound revelations.
Two men and a woman live quite happily together in a romantic liaison. The woman is probably wealthy anyway, so the trio doesn't worry much about money. One day they decide to take a trip in their beat-up car, managing the whole affair in their own special, insouciant manner. They are followed by a suspicious policeman who thinks there's something fishy about this group.
When churlish mobster Albert Spica acquires an upscale French restaurant in London, he dines there nightly, effectively scaring off the clientele with his bad manners. His wife, Georgina, is especially disgusted by him, and soon begins an affair with regular guest Michael. Despite their best efforts to keep it secret, Spica learns about their trysts, and he plots a terrible revenge.
Guido Anselmi, a film director, finds himself creatively barren at the peak of his career. Urged by his doctors to rest, Anselmi heads for a luxurious resort, but a sorry group gathers—his producer, staff, actors, wife, mistress, and relatives—each one begging him to get on with the show. In retreat from their dependency, he fantasizes about past women and dreams of his childhood.
When disillusioned Swedish knight Antonius Block returns home from the Crusades to find his country in the grips of the Black Death, he challenges Death to a chess match for his life. Tormented by the belief that God does not exist, Block sets off on a journey, meeting up with traveling players Jof and his wife, Mia, and becoming determined to evade Death long enough to commit one redemptive act while he still lives.
A mysterious girl, Pennu, comes to a quiet village, creating a strange chasm among the male folks, breaking marriages and old friendships.
Emma approaches adulthood, she tries to live an ordinary life and keep up to her late mothers expectations. However her anxiety weighs over her, stopping her from enjoying the last few youthful years.
500 years into the future, the earth is a dry wasteland destroyed by humans. Doctor Alma, a fluffy, brilliant Vulkeet (a cross between a parakeet and vulture) who drives a Vespa, must cure the only creatures left who can save the world by bringing back the rain - the bizarre and loveable Homeys who have fallen ill with a mysterious sickness.
A mute alien with the appearance of a black human is chased by outer-space bounty hunters through the streets of Harlem.
When land surveyor K arrives at a small village that houses a castle, local authorities refuse to allow him to enter. As he tries to convince the officials that they sent for him, they clamp down with increasingly complicated bureaucratic obstacles.
A naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.
After his colleague Schweitzer goes missing during a drug raid, undercover cop Till Hager is tasked with tracking down a mysterious new drug called "Abaddon" - a substance which supposedly drags it's users down the deepest depths of hell.
Lyudmila is a successful realtor in the capital. Pictures from the past pop up in her memory, and the viewer learns at what cost a single mother from the province managed to cherish Moscow's well-being. Lyudmila's story is typical, it reflects, like in a mirror, the pain points of modern life, forcing us to make our hourly choices. Is it worth a deal with the conscience of material comfort? Is it possible to achieve success in a megalopolis today and remain an honest person? Won't a "bright future" built on betrayal of one's own ideals lead to the decline of genuine human values?
A portrayal of the lives of the people living in North Madras, focusing on the politics inside the slums and how their plight remains the same, despite the political class luring them constantly during elections.