AKIRA KUROSAWA

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BBB.5

USA/Japan, 1990.  Warner Bros., Akira Kurosawa USA.  Screenplay by Akira Kurosawa.  Cinematography by Takao Saito, Shoji Ueda.  Produced by Mike Y. Inoue, Hisao Kurosawa.  Music by Shinichiro Ikebe.  Production Design by Yoshiro Muraki, Akira Sakuragi.  Costume Design by Emi Wada.  Film Editing by Tome Minami.  

Japan’s most celebrated filmmaker, Akira Kurosawa, delves into the world of the subconscious for this loosely-plotted, visually stunning film. Taking images from his own dreams, he strings together a series of episodes of visions both exotic and terrible, some frightening and some staggering their beauty. Martin Scorsese appears in a brief cameo as Vincent Van Gogh in a dream that seems to take place in one of the famous Dutch painter’s own masterpieces. Excellent visual and makeup effects complete this very memorable film, though anyone who needs a good story to be entertained will not be satisfied.

The Criterion Collection:  #842

Golden Globe Award Nomination:  Best Foreign Language Film