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Akira Terao, Martin Scorsese, Mitsunori Isaki, Chishu Ryu, Mieko Harada ... see more see more... , Yoshitaka Zushi , Mitsuko Baisho , Chosuke Ikariya , Hisashi Igawa , Toshihiko Nakano , Mie Suzuki , Takashi Odajima , Sachio Sakai , Yuji Sawayama , Naoto Shigemizu , Tetsu Watanabe , Haruko Togo , Toshie Negishi , Akisato Yamada , Osamu Yayama , Masayuki Yui , Toshiya Ito , Fujio Tokita , Reiko Nanao , Shoichiro Sakata , Shizuka Isami

Following up on his critically acclaimed, blood-splattered epic Ran, master director Akira Kurosawa looks inward with this collection of eight brightly colored dreams. The first section centers on a y... read more read more...oung boy (Mitsunori Izaki), who witnesses a forest wedding procession of fox spirits in spite of his mother's (Mitsuko Baisho) warning. The second section concerns the same lad who converses with peach-tree spirits after the trees have been cruelly cut down. This is followed by a party of mountain climbers struggling to make it back to base camp in the midst of a terrible blizzard. The fourth dream deals with a man (Akira Terao) -- a Kurosawa stand-in complete with the director's trademark floppy white hat -- who encounters ghosts of Japan's militaristic past in a forlorn tunnel. In the following dream, the same man ventures into a Van Gogh painting called The Crows and meets the artist himself (Martin Scorsese). The sixth and seventh dreams venture into nightmare territory -- one deals with a nuclear meltdown that threatens Japan while the other concerns post-nuclear mutants. In the final dream, Kurosawa meets a 103-year-old man (played by Ozu regular Chishu Ryu) in a utopian rural village. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

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86% liked it

15,163 ratings

Critics

50% liked it

18 critics

PG, 1 hr. 59 min.

Directed by: Akira Kurosawa, Ishirô Honda

Release Date: May 1, 1990

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DVD Release Date: March 18, 2003

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Stats: 926 reviews

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Akira Kurosawa's Dreams a fox's wedding various scenes Dreams Dreams
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Flixster Reviews (926)

  • cosmo313
    November 3, 2011
    cosmo313
    One of Akira Kurosawa's final films, this is a collection of eight short films, presented as dreams that were presumably dreamed by Kurosawa himself. All of them have something to do with life, death, human nature, and things like that, and have various themes such as environment... read morealism. While most are dreams, some are more like nightmares. None of them however, are lacking in wonderful imagery and gorgeous cinematography. You could watch this with the sond off and it might be just as effective, but would lose the nice music.

    Overall, I think this is a rather impressive film and the visuals blow me away. Storywise, I'm not quite as impressed because some of the segments aren't as good as the others, and the stories, while not bad, didn't really seem as strong as the visuals and costumes. I enjoyed watching this, and it gives the viewer a lot to think about, but it starts to drag and the pacing might be too slow for many.

    I don't feel I can be too hard on this though, as Kurosawa was 80 when he made it, and not in the best of shape. However, it might be the weakest film of his that I've seen so far. Even then though, it's still far better and more creatvie than most dreck that comes out these days, so take this as a small recommendation.

    Also, Martin Scorsese putting in an appearance as Vincent Van Gogh (complete with a decent makeup job) is a curious joy in its own right.
  • rubystevens
    January 8, 2010
    rubystevens
    it's a visual feast and ephemeral as dreams. i felt it fell off a bit in the second half
  • DrBenway
    April 24, 2008
    DrBenway
    Still on the fence about which Kurosawa-era I enjoy more, his black and white world or the films in color that are some of the most impressive. Made of 8 short tales, each one presumably dreamt by Kurosawa, they are arranged in chronological order from childhood to old age.

    T... read morehemes range from childhood fears, sorrow of war, and accepting one's own mortality. Highlights include Village of the Watermills and Scorsese's portrayal of Van Gogh.
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  • sanjurosamurai
    April 8, 2007
    sanjurosamurai
    pretty fulfilling movie. this is actually a series of 8 short films that average around 15 minutes each. they are short films about the actual dreams of kurosawa. george lucas and martin scorcese helped make this film and a variety of actors starred in the various short films.... read more ultimately 4 of these films were fantastic, 2 were just ok, and 2 werent very good, but overall it is worth a watch for any die hard kurosawa fan so that we can get inside of his head a little. blizzard and watermill village were the most profound of these. if you arent into kurosawa, you might not like this film much at all.
  • purplemegan
    February 9, 2007
    purplemegan
    some of it was better than others. it was a collection of eight short films. the colors in it were beautiful and i loved the way he used the sounds and music. in this one short one i didnt particularly like they said the best thing. they were talking about how a nuclear plant had... read more exploded and all these colored clouds were coming down a mountain and another guy was talking about what kind of radiation each one was and what exactly it did to kill you. then he said, "radiation used to be colorless, so they dyed it. but that only lets you know which one kills you."
  • nuheart
    January 6, 2007
    nuheart
    To quote Agent Cooper, "wonderful and strange..."
  • kiriyamakazou
    December 17, 2006
    kiriyamakazou
    The master of all cinema releases this compilation film of some dreams he has had. All expertly handled, and beautifully shot. It loses marks as the overall quality is inconsistent. Some dreams just aren't as good as others. Other dreams become a bit too preachy in their message.
  • fb874055034
    November 25, 2010
    fb874055034
    Very, very good. A visual delight and wonderfully atmospheric. Delves into light and dark and all between. Not to be forgotten, I feel as though 'Dreams' is very unique and cherish-able.
  • smootysveen
    December 4, 2009
    smootysveen
    My favorite was the tunnel.
  • kylegarvey6
    May 24, 2012
    kylegarvey6
    Eight short films, tied together by the sweet but absurd presentation of "dreams," allow Kurosawa a novel and interesting outlet for Künstlerroman. I appreciate how he reflects back on his life, in splashes of metaphor and poetry, at various stages.

    Tthe shorts aren't ordered th... read moreis way, but this is how I see them: the naif boyhood of "Sunshine Through The Rain" and "The Peach Orchard"; the midlife ennui of "The Blizzard" and "The Weeping Demon"; the political fury of "The Tunnel" and "Mount Fuji In Red"; and, finally, the innocent reminiscence of "Crows" and "Village of the Watermills." It's especially nice to see the clear presentation of Japan in each of them, tender pictures of culture and nature and wildlife, tucked delicately into beautiful, well expressed (and always seemingly disconnected) little vignettes.

    Dreams isn't as stabbingly lush of a film as Yojimbo, but neither is it as coldly monolithic as Dersu Uzala. Kurosawa is a wizard at observation and synthesis, and the same strengths seem to shine out of every film he makes.

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Critic Reviews

Jonathan Rosenbaum
February 9, 2007
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

In the uneven career of Akira Kurosawa, two limiting factors were sentimentality and preachiness, and both come to the fore in this 1990 collection of eight dreams. Full Review

Vincent Canby
May 20, 2003
Vincent Canby, New York Times

It's something altogether new for Kurosawa, a collection of short, sometimes fragmentary films that are less like dreams than fairy tales of past, present and future. The magical and mysterious are mi... Full Review

Peter Travers
May 12, 2001
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Dreams will knock your eyes out without ignoring the mind and heart.

Hal Hinson
January 1, 2000
Hal Hinson, Washington Post

It's dreamy only in one respect: It's a snooze. Full Review

Desson Thomson
January 1, 2000
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

A magnificent, immensely absorbing experience. Full Review

Austin Kennedy
May 19, 2012
Austin Kennedy, Sin Magazine

I wish I could say that every segment is fantastic, but just like so many other "short story films", it's a mixed bag. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
February 2, 2008
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Beautiful to look at but a rather empty fantasy film. Full Review

Geoff Andrew
June 24, 2006
Geoff Andrew, Time Out

Only during a final procession does the old Kurosawa magic get a brief look-in, but by then the hackneyed moralising and dramatic languor have ensured that, despite the well-meaning message, it's hard... Full Review

Derek Smith
January 20, 2004
Derek Smith, Apollo Guide

Worth seeing if you are a fan of the director, but for anyone else I'd suggest first seeking out his more famous films of the 1950s and '60s. Full Review

Ken Hanke
August 11, 2003
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Visually stunning, but dramatically pretty lacking.

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