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Licensor Information
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
Featuring: Akira Terao, Mitsuko Baisho, Mieko Harada, Toshie Negishi, Mitsunori Isaki, Toshihiko Nakano, Yoshitaka Zushi, Hisashi Igawa, Chosuke Ikariya, Chishu Ryu, Martin Scorsese
Unfolding in a series of mythic vignettes, this late work by Akira Kurosawa brings eight of the beloved director’s own nighttime visions, informed by tales from Japanese folklore, to cinematic life. In a visually sumptuous journey through the master’s unconscious, tales of childlike wonder give way to apocalyptic visions: 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 art, including a richly textured tribute to Vincent van Gogh (played by Martin Scorsese), Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams is both a showcase for its maker’s imagination at its most unbridled and a deeply personal lament for a world at the mercy of human ignorance.
Release Information:
Technical Specifications
Format:
Blu-ray
Disc:
BD-50 (1 Disc)
Total: 1 Disc
Regions:
A (Blu-ray)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85:1
Audio Options:
Japanese DTS-HD MA Surround 2.0
Resolution:
1080p/24
Subtitles:
English
Supplements
Types of Supplements Included: Audio Commentary, Documentary, Interview, Theatrical Trailer, Booklet
- New audio commentary featuring film scholar Stephen Prince
- Making of “Dreams” (1990), a 150-minute documentary shot on-set and directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi
- New interview with assistant director Takashi Koizumi
- New interview with production manager Teruyo Nogami
- Kurosawa’s Way (2011), a fifty-minute documentary by director Akira Kurosawa’s longtime translator Catherine Cadou, featuring interviews with filmmakers Theodoros Angelopoulos, Bernardo Bertolucci, Clint Eastwood, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Bong Joon-ho, Abbas Kiarostami, Hayao Miyazaki, Martin Scorsese, Julie Taymor, Shin’ya Tsukamoto, and John Woo
- Trailer
- A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Bilge Ebiri and Kurosawa’s script for a never-filmed ninth dream, introduced by Nogami
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Film
Picture
Audio
Supplements
Artwork
Release Credits
Artwork: Akira Kurosawa
Producer: Elizabeth Pauker
Restoration Information
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams
Restoration by:
The Criterion Collection
Warner Bros.
Year: 2016
Scanned at: 4K Digital
Restored at: 4K Digital
Sources:
35mm Original camera negative
Release Notes on Restoration
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams
Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Black bars at the top and bottom of the screen are normal for this format. This new digital transfer was created in 16-bit 4K resolution on a Lasergraphic’s Director film scanner from the 35mm original camera negative, under the supervision of cinematographer Shoji Ueda. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI Film’s DRS, while Digital Vision’s Phoenix was used for jitter, flicker, small dirt, grain, and noise management.
The 2.0 surround soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm magnetic track. Clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD and iZotope RX. Please be sure to enable Dolby Pro Logic decoding on your receiver to properly play the Dolby 2.0 surround soundtrack.
The 2.0 surround soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm magnetic track. Clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD and iZotope RX. Please be sure to enable Dolby Pro Logic decoding on your receiver to properly play the Dolby 2.0 surround soundtrack.