Akira Kurosawa is rightly revered as one of the most talented directors to ever grace the industry. Delivering samurai epics such as The Seven Samurai, Rashomon, and The Hidden Fortress, he was also well regarded for mining Western tales, delivering his own take imbued with his distinct Eastern verve. High and Low is inspired by the Ed McBain novel King’s Ransom, while Ran is his take on King Lear. Dreams is a curious beast. One of the director’s final films, it marks an abandonment of a simple narrative in favor of a exploration of the filmmaker’s own psyche.
The film stems from the director’s decision to commemorate to film eight of his own dreams. Each vignette varying in theme and content. Ranging from a tale of a young boy stumbling across a Peach Orchard full of dancing spirits, to a vision of the future laid waste by radiation and mutation, to an immersion in a world created out of the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh. Themes of youth, mortality, environmentalism and more brought to life by this renowned filmmaker, his imagination splashed across the screen.
The eight vignettes are a mixed lot, in terms of emotion and cohesiveness. Some showcasing quirky humor, some embodying childhood fears, others excoriating modern sensibilities and some pondering the inevitability of death. In some respects it feels like a therapy session, Kurosawa putting his tortured ponderings and fevered recollections on screen as some form of catharsis. These are loose tales, fable like, with a fairy tale mystique due to the wondrous imagery.
The film opens with Sunshine Through The Rain, a tale drawn from mind and legend, telling how foxes marry on days when the sun shines through the rain. A small boy sneaks out into the forest to catch a glimpse but his curiosity means he must pay a heavy price, a darker element introduced to a fanciful tale. This is a common element amongst the compositions, with some being bleaker than others. Mount Fuji in Red presents a dark vision of an irradiated world, while its partner piece The Weeping Demon shows the fallout leading to mutations, demons roaming the land, feasting on those they perceive to be beneath them as other forms of life, including plants, become warped versions of their former selves.
There is balance, through efforts such as The Peach Orchard where a young boy who fails to stop a peach orchard being destroyed is rewarded by spirits for his valiant effort by showing him the orchard in all its grandeur, dancing for him and metamorphosing into the blossoming trees. Perhaps the quirkiest entry is Crows, where a Japanese artist is plunged into a world made up by the works of Van Gogh, only to meet the artist himself, played by Martin Scorsese no less.
The last of the eight is Village of the Watermills, which contemplates embracing death after a life well lived, compounding an overarching theme of memory and mortality running throughout the pieces. It feels indulgent at times, but transcends that description, and if any director has earned a little indulgence, it’s Kurosawa. Some are undoubtedly stronger than others, they resonate more strongly while others are more abstract. Some more forceful in their social message and in being so, lose a little of their raw potency. But Dreams remains a fascinating and often wondrous journey with a master filmmaker.
THE PACKAGE
This release is a newly restored 4K transfer, overseen by Dreams cinematographer Shoji Ueda. According to the booklet accompanying the release, he had in his possession a folder containing hundreds of Kurosawa’s original drawings used to help develop the film. These sketches were used as references for the color corrections. The end result is a sumptuous affair. Rich colors and impressive contrast with wonderful detail. It’s a mesmerizing series of visuals and with this release, Criterion imbues it with the vibrancy it deserves.
Special features are plentiful, as you’d expect from Criterion. There’s an audio commentary featuring film scholar Stephen Prince, newly recorded for this release. He comes across as a little stuffy at times, but it marries well with the rich images onscreen, featuring tidbits about the making of the film as well as divulging insight into Kurosawa himself.
Making of Dreams is a 1990 documentary that was shot during the making of the film by Nobuhiko Obayashi. At 15 minutes, it’s brimming with on set footage, spanning the entire production, giving a look at how multiple facets of the film came together. Some of the image quality is a little low, but it’s an example of how good a “behind the scenes” documentary can be. Kurosawa’s Way is a 50 minute documentary from 2011 made by Kurosawa’s longtime translator Catherine Cadou. It’s largely made up of interviews with a number of filmmakers including Bernardo Bertolucci, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Martin Scorsese, Hayao Miyazaki, and more. Scorsese is the highlight here as he reflects on his own role as Van Gogh in the film.
Other extras commissioned for this release include a new interview with production manager Teruyo Nogami who talks about her 40 year relationship with Kurosawa as his script supervisor and involvement with bringing Dreams to life. There’s also a new interview with assistant director Takashi Koizumi, who paints a respectful portrait of the man he worked alongside for several films. The Blu-ray also contains a booklet within which is an essay about the film by critic Bilge Ebiri. Also included is a script for a never-filmed ninth dream, introduced by Nogami.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Those expecting something in the vein of Kurosawa’s past works may be a little thrown by what unfolds in Dreams. His familiar mastery of cinema married to a vivid, trippy and fragmented experience. Criterion once again delivers, with an impeccable presentation of this lavish sojourn through the psyche of one of the greatest directors we’ve ever known.
Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams is available from Criterion from November 15th.
Originally published at cinapse.co on November 17, 2016.