Yume

Akira Kurosawa's Dreams (Yume) is a movie based on actual dreams sawn by Kurosawa. It is an episode movie, and it goes through the phases of life of Kurosawa, first while he was a boy and then his adulthood and at the last episode as an old traveler who meets a farmer in the Village of Watermills.

In a way this is a tribute to this master director of Japan. I liked the metaphors, the references for Kurosawa's life. For example the first story tells about young boy who's mother warns him not to go to forest, because that day foxes have weddings and they don't like if someone sees. Of course the boy goes and sees the weddings of the foxes. And when he returns, his mother says an angry fox went looking for him, and gave him a knife. His mother says she cannot let him inside the house any more, and he must seek for forgiveness from the foxes. I could imagine that the times were hard, especially during the war. Kurosawa lived through all that.

The other story tells about peach orchard's spirits that appear to the young boy, and there is a version of old Japanese tale yuki onna, as well as reference to the war.

Akira Kurosawa's deep appreciation to nature and human nature is strongly visible in this movie, as well as his love to old Japanese way of life. In the "Crows" he tells story of Vincent Van Gogh. Gogh says that he drives himself like a locomotive when he paints. "The sun. Sun compels me to paint. I can't waste my time talking to you". Maybe Kurosawa thought so of himself. He really did slave.

In Yume, Martin Scorcese makes a fantastic appearance as Vincent Van Cogh. Akira Terao was excellent choice for self portrait.

Highly recommended.

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