Dreams Movie Review

Dreams

     Dreams is quite the interesting movie. It’s very experimental. The movie shows 8 dreams that the man has had throughout his life. Each dream tells a different story and showcases his views on a subject and what is going on in the world at that time. Akira Kurosawa created this Japanese film in 1990. The first two dreams, Through The Rain and Orchard, are about the man’s views on respecting and protecting nature. The next dream was about a blizzard, and Tunnel is about the war Japan was in at the time and how he felt about all the meaningless death. Crows is about art and experiencing nature, while Mount Fuiji in Red is a dream about how man threatens to destroy art and nature. Weeping Demon is a nightmare about what’s left after man screws up the last time, while Village of Watermills is about the hope that is still left over that things may change.

     Nature is the biggest theme in Dreams. It is present in every dream except Tunnel. Akira’s clearly demonstrates his unhappiness with the way nature is treated and his hopes that things could change before it’s too late. Orchard, Mount Fuiji in Red, and Villiage of Watermills are the dreams which clearly show this. Orchard shows how upset he is when a peach orchard is chopped down. Mount Fuiji in Red shows how a whole country can be destroyed by messing with nature. Village of Watermills shows his hope for the future in the way that the dream has no electricity and the village runs clearly off what the land provides.

     The next theme displayed in Dreams is war. It’s obvious that the man does not think to fondly of war. In Tunnel, he takes the role of a captain of a troop of soldiers. He knew they would not win the battle he threw them into, and is now dealing with the guilt of his own survival. He encounters his troops while walking through a tunnel and their ghosts don’t know that they are deceased. He is heartbroken over this fact and successfully convinces them to march back into the eternal slumber that awaits them. Weeping Demon briefly touches on the war as it hints at aspects of World War II. The deformities of the demons can be compared to the side effects many Japanese people had after the bombs were dropped on their country.

     This movie is so weird that I wouldn’t change a thing! Tunnel was a little repetitive in terms of the dialogue, but aside from that it was crazy. I remember sitting in my seat thinking “What is this? What’s happening?” It was weird in a good way. It kept my attention because I was trying to keep up with it the whole time or waiting for something new to happen. I didn’t want to miss another random ghost dance scene, strange barking dog, or one horned demon. It was certainly entertaining and I would show it to other people, just so they could see what I saw! It was definitely a fun film to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTRw66CnWLI