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.

This, for me, is one of the most beautiful films ever made. Considered by many to be 2nd rate Kurosawa, that's something I just don't buy. So many of his techniques are on display, infinity shots, close-ups, telephoto manipulations, great storytelling (for the most part) and some of the best color cinematography I've yet to see. I love this film. If critics did not know who the director was, I believe it would be considered a classic but some artists are virtually always held to expectations that are foolish. I have seen almost all of Kurosawa's films and I've never seen one I didn't like. Some are masterpieces, some near masterpieces and even his weaker ones always interesting. I was surprised how much i liked The Quiet Duel and I Live in Fear perhaps because they are not written about constantly like Ran, Seven Samurai, Yojimbo or the wonderful Ikiru.If any of his films deserved a Criterion Blu-ray release, this is it and I think it is only one of perhaps 3 that Criterion has not done. Certainly the only reason must be to do with getting the rights and not that they think it isn't deserving. It is written that Kurosawa came to color late yet he was a painter, therefore his wonderful albeit overly colorful films. Overly colorful for realists but not artists who know how to employ it with genius. It's simple, beautiful, a true piece of film art by one of the greatest directors in film history.

Do you ever wake up from a dream and think to yourself, "Whoa, that could be a movie". Perhaps this is exactly what the director of Dreams thought to himself. Dreams is a film directed by Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa in 1990. This film is an extremely artistic and interesting portrayal of a compelling perspective of the relationship between human and the environment. Just like in actual dreams, things aren't necessarily always realistic. This approach works well for the film because it creates the illusion that you are stepping into Kurosawa's mind and dreams. It is an extremely organized film made up of eight short films. Each one is like an episode to represent a different dream of Kurosawa. On the surface, these dreams might seem senseless, bizarre, or even creepy. But on a deeper level, the dreams are elaborately portrayed to signify a message to the audience about the environment; a warning. Here is a little about why Dreams deserves four stars…First of all, the sound and color set a different mood in every episode. The mood is important to create the illusion of a dream—and anything can happen in dreams! There are limited amounts of dialogue in the film. This makes conversations between characters valuable because they offer important knowledge to be able to understand the message Kurosawa is making. The sound in the film makes up for the lack of words. Sound plays an extremely important role in each of the episodes. It emphasizes certain actions and dramatizes important moments in the film. The sounds are deep and are effective in creating suspense. The instruments most likely used might include traditional stringed instruments including the erhu, pipa, and guzheng, and the dizi flutes. Color is also very important and while some episodes are dark and cool, others are saturated and bright. The elements of color and sounds work hand in hand to create a suspenseful mood in each episode. There is always a sense of suspense and curiosity throughout the film—mainly because the main character of each episode plays a very particularly curious role. Since there is no main plot that follows throughout the entire film, the viewer does not know what to expect. As the viewers, we follow the main character in their curiosity. Truly, this film is unlike anything you have seen before. To give you an idea of what each of the dreams is like, I'll describe two of them. The film begins with the first dream titled, Sunshine Through the Rain. This episode sets the mood for the rest of the film. A little boy disobeys his mother's orders and witnessed something that humans are not supposed to see. As the boy travels through the forest, he finds foxes performing their traditional wedding ceremony. The little boy watches extremely carefully—it makes the viewer feel on edge. The sound and color effectively help create this suspense. As he hides behind a thick redwood tree, the foxes continue their ceremony believing that nobody is watching them. But the viewer holds their breath every time the foxes come to an immediate halt when they hear a noise and feel they're being watched; but the boy successfully hides behind the tree once again. The boy manages to hide only a handful of times during the foxes' wedding procession before he is suddenly caught. And as the saying goes, "curiosity killed the cat!" On a deeper level, this is saying is exactly what Kurosawa's message is.Here, Kurosawa is arguing that although knowledge is important for human survival, nature is something that we shouldn't be disrupting. The disruption of nature can result in tragic consequences for humans. In the episode, the boy represents mankind. Essentially, all the boy did is look at the foxes. But Kurosawa is also saying that human presence in nature is enough to change it. Animals do not act the same when humans are around. Furthermore, the boy's curiosity manifests the recent human effort to conquer the environment and manipulate everything it has to offer for self-interest and personal gain. My favorite episode is titled, "The Tunnel". It opens up with a Japanese army commander walking through a dark tunnel. The mood continues to be suspenseful as the man is surprised by a furious dog barking angrily at him. As the episode continues, the man is then surprised by another army man—but this man is a dead. His face is painted completely and I must say, very frighteningly. The dead army man struggles to admit that he has died in combat. After a symbolic conversation with the commander, he is convinced that he must leave the real world and continue into the afterlife along with an enormous group of army men who were stuck in the same place too. Both of these dreams manifest a warning to mankind. The relationship we have with the environment is one we need to care for with great patience and respect. But as depicted in various of the dreams, man only continues to take steps closer to their death as we find new ways to ignore nature's warning and manipulate it to our advantage.

A very uneven piece of cinematographic work by this alleged master of the trade, one that goes from the putrid to the sublime. The sublime being the parts mentioned in this title and the putrid, almost all what comes after--and I'm saying alleged because this is the first Kurosawa movie I see. The first, foremost, criticism that can be made of the film is that's not dreamy enough. Nowhere here you get the feeling you are being introduced to a surreal, dream-like, world. For instance, Buñuel's Charm of the Bourgeoisie has been criticized for many things, but one thing you can say about him is that he got his dreams right in it—at least those that are ostensibly shown as so, like the one of the military officer. Kurosawa's dreams here are instead far too real, far too belonging to our own physical world. Most of its scenes are clear, well shot, and set in locations and contexts we have no problem situating somewhere in our awaken state of consciousness. Also, all characters in these dreams speak in a logical, articulate way; their dialogs are never out of the ordinary, even when they are silly, and the same may be said of the mood, the atmosphere. If they hadn't told me that this was about dreams I would have never guessed it myself.The other thing about Dreams is that it is far too preachy, sometimes it looks--and sounds—-rather like a WWF TV special. This is especially true when some badly crafted character in it rants and raves about "the stupidity of humans" and curses our "fool scientists". Such a routine becomes so annoying at the end that for once I couldn't agree more with that Hollywood producer who famously said one day that if you want to send a message, call Western or something. I'm not against ethical, ecological, political or religious messages conveyed in movies but I think they should a least come disguised in good story telling and good acting--all that by believable and well defined characters--and both things are sorely missing in Dreams. Most of the time people here are overacting and even going over the top, as it was the case with that nuclear scientist who jumps into the sea and that one--horn mutant. Bad, bad acting. (Anyway, the same kind of message have been sent to us dozens of times in the last decades and in far better films such a POTA, Omega Man, to name just two. Nothing would have been lost to the world, had this movie never been made.)There are only two episodes worth viewing here—unless you are a hardcore Kurosawa fan. The first, and by far the best, is that of the officer meeting his ghost platoon, a perfect example of what great cinema is all about. It is also the only one I may consider dreamy enough, crowded with symbols and portraying within it the release of long held, repressed emotions. And the only one to which all of us may relate to, as it deals with something as universal as unmitigated human pain and suffering. Private Noguchi is by far the most touching, believable character in this film and the only one for which I felt any sympathy-—a Malcolm Crowe of sorts, a soldier who reports to his commander officer for duty, only to be told he is dead. No happy ending here, as it was the case for Crowe. The last image of him, hesitantly walking back to the tunnel, defeated and demoralized after knowing the truth, and after expressing his wish of visiting his parents in some near village, is the most haunting of the whole movie. Even more so when, despite his sorrow, he gets enough fortitude to military salute his commander officer. If that's the real Kurosawa, I'd gladly take more of it. The second best dream is that of The Crows. Worthy mostly for the cinematography, the breathtaking landscapes, the paintings. I don't know how good Van Gogh Scorsese makes, I couldn't get most of what he says anyway, but I guess the main objective there was to show how good he physically portrays the painter, as in most of his scenes the camera is all over his mug, taking close-ups of it from every possible angle. If you are not a Kurosawa fan, forget about the rest. The two initial dreams are rather simplistic--and I don't buy the excuse that they are those of a child--and the fox parade utterly annoying. But the worst bits come after the nuclear holocaust which includes one of the worst possible scenes in whole Movie History--that of the mutants cavorting around the contaminated water holes. And that of the Village of the people living a happy life without any modern commodity. BTW, if this people don't need electricity, if they don't use it, I guess they have never seen a Kurosawa movie. Just guessing. 6/10.