From the Collection: Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams

Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams recently got a 4k release from the Criterion Collection. 

In a cinematic experience unlike any other, Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams unfolds in a series of eight vignettes 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.

Here’s what the disc includes:

• 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, Hayao Miyazaki, Martin Scorsese, and others
• Trailer
• PLUS: An essay by film critic Bilge Ebiri and Kurosawa’s script for a never-filmed ninth dream, introduced by Nogami
• Cover painting by Akira Kurosawa

Akira Kurosawa could be argued as the most important international filmmaker to ever live. His films crossed borders and opened up the world to international cinema they had never seen before. His films have influenced a number of films over the year and still are to this day. He is a staple of the Criterion Collection with several of his films in the Collection, whether on disc or streaming on the app. Dreams, originally added to the collection in 2016, gets a wonderful 4k rerelease and this is one of the best 4k movies Criterion has released so far.

Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams is one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen, both visually and thematically. The film is loaded with jaw-dropping visuals. Every dream has a different look to them, but they’re all unique and gorgeous. They’re colorful, bright, layered, and just stunning. While each dream is a different journey, themes of regret, loss, love, sacrifice, life, and death can be found throughout, which makes the entirety of the film feel connected despite the subjects and looks of each dream being different. My favorite dreams were “The Weeping Demon”, “The Tunnel”, and “Crows”, but each one is great and the film overall is a moving masterpiece. 

You can buy the Criterion edition of Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams on the Criterion website or anywhere Criterion Collection DVDs are sold.

More From the Collection

Imitation of Life

Three Colors Trilogy

Last Hurrah for Chivilary

The Fisher King

Targets

One False Move

From the Collection is an analysis piece of non-new-release movies, whether seen on DVD, streaming, or in a theater, and includes a brief history of the film, a review of the film, and content about the experience of seeing the film and/or the contents of the film’s DVD.

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