sharky_55
Despite rapidly deteriorating eyesight, Kurosawa at age 75 made Ran, a Shakespearean tale with a colour palette so striking that it might have been Pollock himself flinging blood onto the canvas. Despite needing assistance to frame basic shots, and having only basic guidance from Kurosawa's illustrated storyboards, its style is arresting, mingling blood and smoke and ash in an arena where God himself is absent. 5 years on, he would make Dreams, a title apt not only for the surreal thread of logic and imagination running through its narrative, but also for how Kurosawa must have conceived of its creation. With barely functioning eyesight, how much of reality was he really seeing, and how much of his dreams made their way onto the filmstrip? The first skit, 'Sunshine Through The Rain', is situated within a near exact replica of Kurosawa's own childhood home, a surrogate for the director to relive his youthful curiosities and anxieties. The boy (aptly named I) ignores his mother's warnings of interrupting the wedding processions of the forest foxes, and stumbles upon not animals, but a troupe of actors in Kabuki masks, performing a highly stylised pantomime. Even a child his age knows when his presence is a gross intrusion, hiding behind the trees. As if on command, the foxes pivot on the stroke of the flute and drum, and their stares force him away. To say this is unsettling would be putting it lightly. A boy of similar age discovers the sins of his family in 'The Peach Orchard', being confronted with the anthropomorphised peach trees as obina and mebina dolls, all sporting ghostly white make-up. Their dialogue seems otherworldly, filtered through some heavenly speaker instead of a normal sound mix. This isn't a scolding, it's a divine condemnation. As quickly as they summon the peach blossoms for the boy's brief bliss, they also quickly disappear, leaving behind a young boy clambering over barren field in a boxed-in medium shot. Kurosawa cuts with viciousness here, one moment filling the frame with pink petals and a glimpse of a mysterious girl (which may reference Kurosawa's older sister who passed away young), the next ripping it all away. As the 'boy' grows, he finds himself in increasingly bizarre situations in which he discovers a world in topsy turvy, with both moral and conventional logic tossed out the window. 'The Blizzard' sees an adolescent Kurosawa and his climbing crew buffeted by howling wind and snowstorm, hacking at the ice with futility and gaining little progress. One by one the mountaineers become frozen statues, and the leader is almost seduced by the Yuki-onna's song, who calls him to his next life. The scene is obviously shot on a small set, judging by the fake snow and the climber's circling and back-pedalling route, but Kurosawa's sound design, which blends a mass of roaring wind and the serene tones of the Yuki-onna, as good as throws us into the fray. The next vignette, 'The Tunnel', continues the line of dream logic; an army commander strolls through idyllic mountainside, but where is the rest of his platoon, and from which nearby battlefield did he escape? He is the only survivor of a suicidal charge, his departed comrades arranged in military file and salute, deep blue faces with blackened eyes. The fact that they do nothing to acknowledge the past atrocity and the culpability of the surviving commander only deepens his grief; he unloads the anxieties and lingering trauma of a country ravaged after the world war onto their blank faces, stony manifestations of his survivor's guilt that will stay with him for the rest of his life. At this point, Kurosawa shifts from what could be an entirely personal and autobiographical story to broader musings on human nature and its interaction with the wider environment. 'Crows' and 'Village of the Watermills' bookend the narrative's entry into a harsh, alien landscape post-nuclear bombardment, where sunflowers grow ten feet tall amidst fields of grey ash, and hordes of mutated 'survivors' weep into pools of red. What Kurosawa does here with red mist and fog rivals some of his best work in Yojimbo, the traveller once again buffeted from all sides, unable to clearly mark a path forward. By depicting nature's recoil in such a grotesque, bodily form (the volcano in 'Mount Fuji in Red' practically spits fire and blood), he mourns for the natural beauty that has been desecrated by modernity. Dreams' didactic label isn't inaccurate, but it's a minor grievance when you consider the enduring strength of the director's hope and moral sensibility even in the twilight of his career. We witness the final vignette's potency, see the final hurrah of the funeral procession for an age that has almost faded. The windmills may have stopped turning, and his eyesight may be gone, but Kurosawa still sees so clearly through his hopes and dreams.
Jon Corelis
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams is a melding of autobiography, zen philosophy, Noh drama, Japanese folklore, and modern anxieties about nuclear and ecological doom. It is a masterpiece by a genius director, and one of cinema's great studies in color (comparable only so far as I can think of to two much happier films, Renoir's French Cancan and Minelli's An American in Paris.) Some people have complained about the film's long periods of little or no action, an apparently simplistic morality, inaccurate science, non-realistic dance sequences, and obviously artificial special effects, not understanding that all these elements are quite deliberate stylistic features consciously employed to devastating effect by a master film maker in total control of his medium. If you don't understand this when you see it, keep watching it again and again until you do understand it. The Criterion DVD is of superb quality with a useful booklet about the film.
gavin6942
A collection of tales based upon the actual dreams of director Akira Kurosawa.The film received mixed reviews, earning a Rotten Tomatoes approval rating of only 55%. I think this is a shame. Although Kurosawa is better known for his samurai stories, this was one of the last stories he put on film and I would say it is among his best. The incredible use of color and costuming alone makes this worth seeing.The segment that will probably stand out most for Americans is the vignette with Vincent vanGogh, played by Martin Scorsese. This was an interesting bit of casting, but more interestingly was the way the story unfolds at this point, where nature is shown to be art, both figuratively and literally. It is a quite a beautiful short film in its own right.
mrinaldutta90
i have been hearing about Akira Kurosawa's movies for a long time,but was not able to lay my hands on one till today!and his reputation did precede him...dreams is a collection of eight short dreams which was said to be dreamed by Kurosawa himself !most of the dreams is a beautifully pictured social commentary on modern life,and how science is destroying the beauty of the actual lives and the small little things that are really important! the peach orchard gives the message on deforestation and cutting of trees,the blizzard and the tunnel(two nightmares) gives different concepts of death and defeat,mount Fuji in red and the weeping demon gives the message about modern nuclear weapons and their ill effects... crows is the most beautiful dream,in which the dreamer travels through the paintings of artist van Gogh(played by martin Scorsese)...the transformation from painting to real life is really brilliant but my favorite dream is the last one village of the watermills,which makes u realize that technology and science necessarily do not bring a happy and full life!the two most important things in life is clean water and clean air!most of the dreams do not have any plot,actually they do not need one...they are very strong by themselves!it will seem that they are surreal dreams dreamed by a socially responsible person...and leaves a deep impression on ones mind!!it may be a little slow,but if u see through it,the way u view your life may change!9.5/10
