842 Akira Kurosawa's Dreams

[swo17]

Akira Kurosawa's Dreams



Unfolding in a series of eight mythic vignettes, this late work by Akira Kurosawa was inspired by the beloved director's own nighttime visions, along with stories from Japanese folklore. In a visually sumptuous journey through the master's imagination, tales of childlike wonder give way to apocalyptic apparitions: a young boy stumbles on a fox wedding in a forest; a soldier confronts the ghosts of the war dead; a power-plant meltdown smothers a seaside landscape in radioactive fumes. Interspersed with reflections on the redemptive power of creation, including a richly textured tribute to Vincent van Gogh (who is played by Martin Scorsese), Akira Kurosawa's Dreams is both a showcase for its maker's artistry at its most unbridled and a deeply personal lament for a world at the mercy of human ignorance.

4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• 4K digital restoration, supervised by cinematographer Shoji Ueda, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• Audio commentary featuring film scholar Stephen Prince
• Feature-length documentary from 1990 shot on set and directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi
• Interviews with production manager Teruyo Nogami and assistant director Takashi Koizumi
• Documentary from 2011 by director Akira Kurosawa's longtime translator Catherine Cadou, featuring interviews with filmmakers Bernardo Bertolucci, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Martin Scorsese, Hayao Miyazaki, and others
• Trailer
• PLUS: An essay by film critic Bilge Ebiri and Kurosawa's script for a never-filmed ninth dream, introduced by Nogami

[Ribs]

The single most interesting thing to me about all of Criterion's Kurosawa releases is the absolutely ridiculous amount of extant documentary coverage of the man and his work - I'd think after several dozen releases they'd be through all that's out there by now!

The booklet is a big plus as well. Really happy Criterion seems to have really tried with this one to create a sizeable edition - I've been anticipating it for some time.

[criterion10]

Really happy Criterion seems to have really tried with this one to create a sizeable edition - I've been anticipating it for some time.

Yes, this seems like an exhaustive edition, and thank goodness for that. (I don't believe the WB DVD had a single extra -- and to think that this was put into the Warner Archive only shortly ago!)

[knives]

Cool set of extras though I hope at least the booklet goes into Honda's significant contributions to the film (and late Kurosawa in general).

[movielocke]

200 minutes of bonus films, lots of interviews and the feature on one bluray?

[colinr0380]

Its interesting to note that this most visually stylised film has its two and a half hour making of documentary directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi, the director of the similarly stylised House!

[Big Ben]

Pleased to see Theo Angelopoulos enter the collection in some capacity.

Aside from that I'm pleased to see more Kurosawa even if I know next to nothing about it.

[dwk]

200 minutes of bonus films, lots of interviews and the feature on one bluray?

They recently changed the Boyhood Blu-ray to a 2-disc set, so they may do that to this.

[Raymond Marble]

Its interesting to note that this most visually stylised film has its two and a half hour making of documentary directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi, the director of the similarly stylised House!

Perversely, I'm more excited by that and the other doc ("Kurosawa's Way") than I am by the film itself.

[Minkin]

I'm ecstatic that this is finally a reality. If the WB deal turned out to be nothing more than this, I would've been happy enough.

Glad I never bought that hilarious flipper-pack DVD from my local BN, which - to add insult to injury - had the disc loose in the case.

Also happy to see that they can still manage impressive extras for a Kurosawa title. Does anybody know what Kurosawa’s Way was made for? Television? Some other DVD release? Its sounds rather hokey, but who knows.

[Telstar]

Sounds like a wonderful edition. Wish I liked the film more.

[flyonthewall2983]

Pleased to see Theo Angelopoulos enter the collection in some capacity.

Same for Clint Eastwood

[manicsounds]

To say, "Kurosawa's Way" is "Kurosawa, la voie" - the same documentary can be found on the French Blu of "Seven Samurai"

[med]

Sounds like a wonderful edition. Wish I liked the film more.

I'm not a fan of Kurosawa's post-Ran work, though this film is the best of his last three. That said, they really went all out with the extras here. A new Stephen Prince commentary is always cause for celebration! I'll be getting this for sure.

[Roscoe]

I wasn't crazy about most of DREAMS, but my Dad is fond of saying that I'll get it when I'm an old man, and that was a long time ago and I'm thinking he may have had a point.

[Telstar]

I wasn't crazy about most of DREAMS, but my Dad is fond of saying that I'll get it when I'm an old man, and that was a long time ago and I'm thinking he may have had a point.

Not so sure about that either. I saw it as a young man and found it beautiful but hokey; don't really like it much better now as a cranky old guy.

[dda1996a]

Sounds like a wonderful edition. Wish I liked the film more.

I'm not a fan of Kurosawa's post-Ran work, though this film is the best of his last three. That said, they really went all out with the extras here. A new Stephen Prince commentary is always cause for celebration! I'll be getting this for sure.

Having seen Rhapsody in August recently I found it a beautiful and moving piece that while doesn't rank amongst his 50s/60s output or even the double brilliance of Kagemusha/Ran is still wonderful.
Same thing about this. The only thing stopping this from absolute perfection is that some parts are obviously lesser than others, like all anthology films. But the soldier in the tunnel, the Van Gough, the funeral, and the toxic wasteland are all brilliant pieces, with the first one, the snow section and the giant Sunflowers also being rather great.
I still have a bunch of his lesser well known films (Maddayo, Dodeska San and his early pre Stray Dog films but he's my second favorite director of all time and I'm happy to see more of his films come out

[Zot!]

c'mon this is a great film. Its profound without being obtuse. Nothing bad to say. It's not a fucking masterwork maybe, like Kurosawas best, but it is hardly an embarrassment.

[Roscoe]

I liked the first couple very much -- the fox wedding and the peach orchard really had that dream feeling for me. The rest, well, despite some glimmers here and there I can't say I was all that taken with it, it just felt very on the nose somehow. Looking forward to a revisit to see how I feel about it.

[zedz]

I liked the first couple very much -- the fox wedding and the peach orchard really had that dream feeling for me. The rest, well, despite some glimmers here and there I can't say I was all that taken with it, it just felt very on the nose somehow. Looking forward to a revisit to see how I feel about it.

I haven't seen it since it came out, but I felt very much the same way. The first couple of episodes were promising, and had me primed for much stronger material to come, but unfortunately they turned out to be the highlights of a film that was very soon mired in triteness (though some of the visuals later on are impressive).

[dda1996a]

Am I the only one who likes everything except maybe the Sunflowers and end of world segment, which I think is just okay?
I mean the WWII tunnel is brilliant, and so is the funeral and mountain climbing which are also great

[Michael Kerpan]

I liked parts of this and found parts not terribly good.

Then again, not really a fan of any AK film after Red Beard....

[aox]

I also haven't liked anything I have seen post-Red Beard, but I always kind of wanted to give this one a shot.

Is his final film, Madadayo as bad as many people have told me?

[Michael Kerpan]

I also haven't liked anything I have seen post-Red Beard, but I always kind of wanted to give this one a shot.

Go for it. It has some wonderful segments -- that one may even wish to re-watch (while skipping the parts that don't pass muster with you).

[knives]

I'll second that. This is easily my favorite colour Kurosawa film though the segments where Honda has the fullest control are far and away the best.