DREAMS
A film review by Malcolm Austin
Copyright 1990 Malcolm Austin
Directed by Akira Kurosawa Japanese with subtitles, a little English
Synopsis: DREAMS is a collection of eight short vignettes connected
by a naturalism theme and surreal imagery. The first five
"dreams" are spectacular, with several images that burn into
the brain. The last three, however, are marred by their
preachiness, although they also contain beautiful and haunting
imagery. This film is "must see" for anyone interested in
film as a visual medium.
DREAMS is the first film by Akira Kurosawa since RAN was released (in 1986?). It is composed of eight pieces, each individually titled, and each describing an incident seemingly taken from a larger story. All of them of are beautifully filmed, with striking, occasionally surreal imagery, and a minimum of conversation. Don't wait for this film to hit videotape; cropping the pictures will ruin many carefully composed scenes.
There is no plot to this film. The individual scenes do suggest stories, although they come sometimes from the beginning, middle, or end of the stories which contain them. The cinematography is consistently astonishing. I saw a PBS special on Kurosawa recently which showed him painting watercolor visions for what would become the film KAGEMUSHA. In DREAMS, he also seems to have carefully constructed his images. I can think of a half-dozen individual stills which I would like posters of.
The film is relentlessly visual, with long stretches containing no dialogue. Like most Kurosawa movies, the pacing is somewhat slow by American standards. Scenes are built very carefully. In "Blizzard," for instance, he waits until we experience the same exhaustion that the characters on screen are going through before advancing the story along. The short length of each segment, however, prevents the film from lagging, at least until the final three scenes.
The final scenes do take the film down some, as they contain long speeches about the evils of radiation and industrial civilisation. I may be reacting in part to my own negative opinion of the "Split wood, not atoms" message imposed on these scenes, but I feel that the long speeches, absent from any of the other scenes, disrupt the visual storytelling process. During the afore-mentioned PBS special, Kurosawa says that he distrusts films that carry meanings. As he put it, "Meaning is easy, but style--that is very difficult." He seems to have forgotten this sentiment midway through this picture, and employs a troubling narrative style to present his views. This is a jarring contrast to the other pieces. "The Tunnel," for example, delivers a very strong and complex "message" without any exposition at all.
Even these scenes are beautifully made, however. In particular, the last scene, which contains no surreal photography (although the setting is, sadly, all too unreal), is a wonderful celebration of nature and life. This film left me deeply moved and in awe at Kurosawa's ability to compose images.
The movie may be difficult to find. In NYC, it is playing at only one theatre (the 57th St. Playhouse), and I don't think it has been released very widely. It is worth the effort, however, so don't pass up a (probably brief) chance to see this film in a theatre.
Recommended. -- Malcolm Austin -- maus@fir.morgan.com
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