Most people dream but I wonder how many are rewarded with such beauty when their eyelids close and they drift into semi-consciousness. Kurosawa has collected some of his dreams and shares them with us. I don't ever remember seeing such vivid colours in my own dreams, but like Kurosawa's they are often fragmented and incomplete with a mystical quality involving spirits and the dead.

I like the peach tree scene where true repentance makes things right. Not only the peach blossom but also the kimono of the characters tiered up the hillside are most pleasing to the eye. As also is the meeting with van Gogh when his paintings with mad whirls of colour are brought to life and form part of the landscape.

Some dreams can be very frustrating when we are caught in a dangerous situation from which there is no ready means of escape. This is dramatically illustrated in the Mt. Fuji episode in which nuclear plants explode and a fog of coloured radio-active gases envelopes the characters. There is a strong message here about saving the environment. This message is also accented in the ogre scene and the peach tree scene and the water mill scene.

Some viewers might find the going slow at times. For example, the mountain climbers struggling in knee-deep snow seem to move at the rate of a few steps each minute and being encouraged by their leader to keep going as they strive to reach their camp. A mystical event occurs and in the morning when the heavy fog clears, a surprise awaits them. This feeling of striving and getting nowhere is common in dreams, at least in mine.

There is also mysticism involved in the tunnel scene where an ex-soldier meets the remainder of his platoon all of whom were killed in battle. The sound of their marching feet echoing through the empty tunnel is quite chilling.

Apart from a few dramatic moments the film is somewhat subdued. It is an art film beautifully conceived and should be reserved for one of those quiet moments when we are in a meditative mood.

A contemplative anthology from the renowned director Akira Kurosawa. This looks excellent in high definition but doesn't have a huge amount of substance behind it, instead it's more of an abstract warning against nuclear power, war and a pro-nature film a la the works of Studio Ghibli. It looks very nice indeed and each of the eight tales are inventively portrayed; the visuals are best in the stunning Van Gogh segment, purely designed to bring some of his paintings to the screen in a novel way.

I would have to say that of the Kurasawa films I have seen, this is nearly my least favorite (just ahead of Sanjuro Sugata parts 1 and 2). This is not to say it is a bad movie or it is poorly made--it's just very strange in spots and is a random collection of Akira Kurasawa's dreams stuck on the big screen. Some are not all that interesting and others are more nightmarish and captivating (such as his apocalyptic dream). It is a definite must for people like me who want to see every film he made, but for the casual viewer, it will probably just make your head hurt or make you dismiss his films in general---which would be a great shame, as he is, perhaps, my favorite director of all. Try to look at this an an experimental art film that he chose to do because, given his years and many great accomplishments, he had a right to try something different. Also, if you give it a try, several of the dreams are quite well-done and will impress (such as the Vincent Van Gogh segment starring, of all people, Martin Scorsese!).