"Dodes'ka-den" *** 1\2 (out of ****)
I have only written one other time about the great filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. I included his film "The Bad Sleep Well" (1960) in my "Masterpiece Film Series". It is not one of his more typical movies. And now here again I am writing about another Kurosawa film which is unlike any you have seen.
When Kurosawa made "Dodes'ka-den" (1975) it was at a turning point in his career. The great director wasn't always appreciated in his country. He was starting to find difficulty getting his films financed. Some may have even felt that the master's best days were behind him. At the time when "Dodes'ka-den" was released, it was dismissed. An absolute financial failure. Those that did like it said it was a minor film. The public and critical response eventually lead to Kurosawa to attempt to commit suicide. His next film wasn't even made in his country. It was made in the Soviet Union, "Dersu Uzala" (1975), which won an Academy Award for "Best Foreign Language Film".
But "Dodes'ka-den" even had a hard time finding its way in America. The film was actually released in Japan in 1970 and wasn't released in America until 1975 (I usually date films by the year they were released in America. Because I live in America I wouldn't be able to see it before that time anyway). And it is true, it does not resemble any of Kurosawa's previous films. First of all, it was his first film shot in color. Secondly, none of his usual actors are in the film. Mostly everyone used in this film was unknown. And thirdly, it is not set in the past. When you think of Kurosawa, many people think of samurai films; "Seven Samurai" (1954), "Yojimbo" (1961) and its sequel, "Sanjuro" (1962). His films always take place in the past, with a few exceptions; "Drunken Angel" (1948), "High & Low" (1963) and "The Bad Sleep Well" among them. "Dodes'ka-den" is another example.
In "Dodes'ka-den" we follow a group of characters, who live in poverty at a garbage dump. Not your usually Kurosawa setting. It is an episodic film showing us this small community and its inhabitants. They all see each other film time to time but never really learn much about each other. What kind of people were they like before they hit hard times.
The supposed "lead" character is Rokkuchen (Yoshitaka Zushi) a mentally challenged young man who lives with his mother (Kin Sugai). She prays all day, I assume to make him better. While, somehow he has got the idea stuck in his head for works for the city as a trolley car conductor. He complains about going to "work" everyday. He drives his imaginary trolley car around the dump, making all the stops. The film's title, "Dodes'ka-den" is what Rokkuchen says to himself while driving. It is apparently the sound he think a train makes.
The other characters are a husband, Kyota (Tatsuo Matsumura) and his wife's niece, Katsuko (Tomoko Yamazaki). Since the wife is in the hospital, Katsuko must work day and night, clean the house and cook the meals while Kyota drinks sake.
Then we have a Beggar (Noboru Mitani) and his son (Hiroyuki Kawase). They live in a broken down car. The son visits various restaurants at night hoping they will give him some of the leftovers. Meanwhile his father has dreams of building them a mansion. He spends all his time working out the construction plans. At first I thought this was just a clever attempt by the father to give the boy hope, something to look forward to. But then I suddenly began to wonder if the father was not losing his mind and was completely devoid of reality.
There are also two characters who do nothing but drink all day and even swap wives. One day they will be with one woman and the next day go back to their wives. And the women don't seem to mind much either. In fact they don't seem to mind anything at all about their husbands.
Kurosawa follows these characters and others with much simplicity and tenderness. Some characters we come to like more than others, but, besides the truly wicked characters, Kurosawa doesn't seem to judge these people. He doesn't blame them for their poverty. We never even learn how they became this way. And I don't think that was the point anyhow. What I think Kurosawa is saying is, many may feel life is a worthless experience. There is no point to go on. The world is filled with so much anger and hatred and wars, what is the point in going on? But these characters have nothing. Within our sadness we create our own worlds. We find our own happiness. It is the only thing which keeps us going. The idea that tomorrow our luck may change. So we pretend our lives have greater importance, like a trolley car conductor.
How ironic then that after making such a film about hope that Kurosawa would try to kill himself. But what were critics and audiences expecting? Why were they so harsh against the film? Even though "Dodes'ka-den" may not be one of Kurosawa's best known films, I feel it is one of his great works. It is a humanitarian film. Kurosawa always made films with a humanitarian streak in them. I would rate this alongside my favorite Kurosawa films; "Rashomon" (1950), "Seven Samurai", "The Bad Sleep Well", "Kagemusha" (1980), "Ran" (1985) and "Red Beard" (1965).
"Dodes'ka-den" marks the 19th film I have seen by the great Kurosawa. I have seen nearly all the films he made from "Drunken Angel" to his last film "Madadayo" released in Japan in 1993 but not in America until 1998. Of all 19 of those films I have enjoyed every one of them. But, if you wonder why I don't review Kurosawa's more popular films, it is because I just don't feel like re-watching those movies. I want to move forward and experience the films I haven't seen yet. Will I ever review them? Sure. After I have seen all the other films by Kurosawa that I haven't seen. And those remaining titles are the lesser known ones.
How will others react to this film? It is a tough question. I guess it depends on what you expect from Kurosawa. This is not a samurai film. And it is not fast moving either. It doesn't have the humor of "Yojimbo" or "Sanjuro". But it does have the heart and sentimentality of some of Kurosawa's later films. Those films were much more reflective. It was as if Kurosawa knew the end was near and wanted to share with us all his desires and fears. One of his later films, "Dreams" (1990) is actually based on dreams Kurosawa had. It is not one of his best films, but, clearly was very personal for him. "Dodes'ka-den" is a warm movie brimming with compassion and hope. That is why it is one of my favorite Kurosawa films. I can only hope those who seek this film out will enjoy it as much as I did.
"Dodes'ka-den" was nominated for the "Best Foreign Language Film" Oscar.
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