Original subtitles

A film by AKIRA KUROSAWA

DREAMS

Presented by STEVEN SPIELBERG / Amblin Entertainment

A KUROSAWA PRODUCTIONS FILM

Produced by HISAO KUROSAWA and MIKE Y. INOUE

Creative Consultant ISHIRO HONDA

Cinematography by TAKAO SAITO and SHOJI UEDA

Production Design by YOSHIRO MURAKI, AKIRA SAKURAGI

Music by SHINICHIRO IKEBE

Costumes by EMI WADA

Chief Assistant Director TAKASHI KOIZUMI

Production Manager TERUYO NOGAMI

Starring AKIRA TERAO

MITSUKO BAISHO

TOSHIE NEGISHI MIEKO HARADA

MITSUNORI ISAKI

TOSHIHIKO NAKANO YOSHITAKA ZUSHI

HISASHI IGAWA

CHOSUKE IKARIYA CHISHU RYU

MARTIN SCORSESE

Special Effects by

Written and Directed by AKIRA KUROSAWA

I HAD THE FOLLOWING DREAM...

"Sunshine Through the Rain"

You can't go out today.

The sun is shining, but it's raining.

Foxes hold their weddings on days like this.

They hate it if anybody watches.

Terrible things will happen if you do.

You saw it, didn't you?

You saw something you shouldn't have.

I can't have such a child in my house.

An angry fox came looking for you.

He left this.

You're to atone by cutting your belly open.

Go quickly and ask their forgiveness.

Give that back to them...

and beg for your life on your knees!

They rarely forgive even trivial things.

You must go prepared to die for your sin!

Hurry now!

Until they forgive you,

I can't let you back in.

But I don't know where their home is.

Of course you do.

On days like this there's always a rainbow.

Their home is beneath the rainbow.

I HAD ANOTHER DREAM...

"The Peach Orchard"

- Take this, big sister. - Thanks.

Weren't there six of you?

There were six of you before, so I brought six servings.

You made a mistake. Here, you have this one.

I already had mine.

That's strange.

I'm sure there were six. Did someone leave?

No.

There really was another girl here.

Stop acting so strange!

Now leave us alone.

- She's there! - Who?

- I don't know who she is. - No one's there!

She was right there!

Have you got a fever again?

No! Just tell me who she is.

Are you all right?

Wait!

Where are you going? You're not supposed to go out!

Little boy!

We have something to tell you.

Listen carefully.

We're never going to your house again.

Why not?

Your family...

cut down all the peach trees

in this orchard.

The Doll Festival is also a seasonal festival.

It's the festival of the peach trees.

We dolls are personifications of the peach tree.

We're the spirit of the trees, the life of the blossoms.

If you cut down the peach trees,

how can you hold a Doll Festival?

Those vanished trees are weeping in their sorrow.

It's too late for tears!

Let us not blame the boy.

He wept for us as we were being chopped down.

He even tried to stop them.

Because he'd get no more peaches!

You're wrong!

I can buy peaches at the store!

But where can you buy a whole orchard in bloom?

I loved this place

and the peach trees that blossomed here.

I knew I would never see them again!

That's why I cried!

Very well. We understand.

He is a good boy.

Let us allow him to see

this peach orchard in bloom one last time.

I HAD ANOTHER DREAM...

"The Blizzard"

It's getting dark.

Is it night again already?

Don't be stupid!

It hasn't been that long since we set out.

But we set out late.

We overslept.

That can't be.

It's only 11:00.

Your watch must be broken.

No.

The hands are moving.

The snow makes it seem dark.

It's turning into another blizzard!

Come on, let's hurry!

Are we on the right path?

Yes.

We'll be out of this gully soon.

We're almost at the advance camp.

Enough! I'm sick of hearing that!

I've had it!

Get up!

Get up and walk!

You call yourselves mountaineers?

A little storm like this - aren't you ashamed?

Little storm?

It's been three days!

It's never going to let up.

Nonsense!

It won't stop!

It's waiting for us to die!

All right.

We'll rest a bit.

Someone's coming!

It's true.

Someone's coming!

No one's coming.

You're hallucinating.

Don't fall asleep!

You'll die if you fall asleep!

Get up!

Stay awake!

Get up!

You'll die if you sleep!

Wake up...

The snow is warm.

The ice is hot.

Wake up! Are you okay?

Wake up!

Wake up!

Wake up!

Look!

Our camp!

It's our camp!

I HAD ANOTHER DREAM...

"The Tunnel"

Private Noguchi!

Yes, sir!

You're -

Sir, did I...

did I really die in action?

I can't...

I can't believe I'm really dead.

I was discharged and went home.

I ate the sweet rice cakes my mom made for me.

I remember it clearly.

You told me that once before.

You were shot, and you fainted.

As I tended to you, you woke up and told me that story.

It was just...

a dream you had while unconscious.

It was such a vivid tale. I couldn't forget it.

But five minutes later...

you really did die.

Understood, sir!

But my mom and dad...

still don't believe I'm dead.

That's my home.

My mom and dad...

are still waiting for me there.

But it's a fact.

You were killed.

It breaks my heart...

but I have to be blunt:

You died...

in my arms.

Noguchi!

Platoon...

halt!

Salute the company commander!

Present...

arms!

Order arms!

Third Platoon reporting, sir.

All present and accounted for.

Listen to me!

I understand...

how you must feel.

Nevertheless...

the Third Platoon was completely wiped out.

You were all killed in action.

Forgive me.

I managed to survive.

I can't even look you in the face.

The responsibility for your deaths...

rests with me!

I could blame it all...

on the absurdity of war,

or the inhumanity of the military.

But to deny my own mistakes and indecisiveness would be cowardly.

That said...

I was taken prisoner.

And life in that camp gave me...

a taste of the agonies of death.

And...

now...

as I look at you...

I taste that same bitterness again.

Compared to your own suffering,

mine must seem trivial.

But I tell you this honestly:

I wished...

I had died with you.

Please believe me when I say that.

I understand your resentment.

I really do.

To die in battle...

is to die like a dog!

But listen to me.

What good is it wandering among the living like this?

I beg you!

Go back!

Go back and rest in peace.

Third Platoon...

about...

face!

Forward...

march!

I HAD ANOTHER DREAM...

"Crows"

Hello.

Do you know where Mr. Van Gogh lives?

If it's him you're after, he crossed the bridge

and went that way.

Thank you.

Be careful, sir.

He just got out of the lunatic asylum.

You're Vincent van Gogh, aren't you?

I HAD ANOTHER DREAM...

"Mount Fuji in Red"

What's going on?

What's happening?

Has Fuji erupted?

This is terrible!

It's worse than that!

Haven't you heard?

The nuclear power plant exploded!

There are six reactors.

They're exploding one after another.

This is Japan. There's nowhere to run.

I know that. We can't escape.

But we have to try. We have no choice!

We can't go any farther.

But...

what happened?

Where did all those people go?

Where did they run to?

They're at the bottom of the sea.

Those are dolphins. Even they're trying to escape.

Lucky them.

They can swim away.

It makes no difference.

The radiation will get them soon enough.

Here it comes.

The red is plutonium-239.

One ten-millionth of a gram will give you cancer.

The yellow is strontium-90.

It collects in your bone marrow

and causes leukemia.

The purple is cesium-137.

It accumulates in the gonads, causing genetic mutations.

There's no telling what you'll give birth to.

People are such fools!

Radiation was dangerous because you couldn't see it,

so they found a way to dye it.

But that only confirms you're going to die.

It's just Death's calling card.

Now, if you'll excuse me...

Wait!

Radiation doesn't kill you right away, so maybe -

Maybe nothing! A slow death is even worse.

Death is one thing for adults who've lived their lives.

But children haven't even begun to live yet.

Waiting to die from radiation poisoning isn't living.

They told us, "Nuclear energy is safe.

The danger lies in human error,

not in nuclear energy itself.

We won't allow any mistakes, so don't worry."

It's unforgivable!

Those bastards better hang for this

or I'll never die in peace!

Don't worry. The radiation will see to that.

Please forgive me.

I'm one of those who ought to hang.

I HAD ANOTHER DREAM...

"The Weeping Demon"

You're human, eh?

What's the matter?

Are you a demon?

I suppose I am.

But I used to be human.

What a world!

What stupidity!

Long ago...

this here was a field of flowers.

But then...

the hydrogen bombs and missiles...

turned it into this desert!

But recently...

mysterious flowers have begun to bloom...

in areas covered in fallout.

These are all dandelions.

Dandelions?

Monster dandelions.

This is a rose.

But the stem grows from the center of the flower

and has another bud growing from its tip.

The radiation scattered all around here...

has left all these flowers...

deformed and misshapen.

But it's not just the flowers.

Human beings too.

Just look at me.

Human beings are such idiots.

We turned the Earth into a dumping ground for toxic waste!

There's no healthy nature left

anywhere on the planet.

No birds, no animals, no fish.

Except...

a while back...

I saw a rabbit with two faces...

a one-eyed bird...

and a fish covered in fur.

What do you do for food?

There is no food!

We devour each other.

The weak ones go first.

My turn's coming soon.

There's a class structure even among demons.

Those like me

with one horn...

inevitably get eaten by those with two or three.

Those who seized power as human beings...

the cunning and the shameless,

rule the demon world as well.

Fine! Let them have their way.

Let them grow all the horns they want.

Let them look like terrifying freaks!

Such are the torments of hell.

It's worse than death.

But they couldn't die

even if they wanted to.

You see, it's a demon's karma

never to die.

They must suffer forever...

tortured for their sins.

But me, I'll be eaten soon.

No!

I don't want to be eaten.

That's why I'm running away like this.

But...

I get so hungry...

and become disgusted with myself.

I was a farmer when I was a man.

I dumped tank trucks of milk into the river to keep prices up.

Onions, potatoes, cabbage - I bulldozed them all under.

I was so stupid!

Hear that?

When dusk comes...

those big-shot demons howl in pain.

Their horns hurt like cancerous tumors.

Enough to make them yearn for a quick death.

But since they can't die...

all they can do is howl.

Come, I'll show you.

I'll show you how they howl.

My horn's beginning to hurt too.

Go now!

Go where?

You want to become a demon too?

I HAD ANOTHER DREAM...

"The Village of the Water Mills"

Good day.

Good day.

Ah, good day.

What's the name of this village?

It doesn't have one.

We just call it "the village."

But outsiders call it "the village of the water mills."

Do all the villagers live around here?

No.

We're spread all around.

You don't have electricity?

We don't need stuff like that.

People are suckers for convenience.

They think, "The more convenient, the better,"

and they end up throwing out what's truly good.

What do you do for light?

We have candles and rapeseed oil.

Isn't it dark at night?

Night is supposed to be dark.

We'd be in trouble if night were as bright as day.

I don't want a night so bright that I can't see the stars.

You have rice paddies...

but I see no tillers or harvesting machines.

We don't need such things.

We have cows and horses.

What do you use for fuel?

Firewood, mostly.

We feel bad chopping down living trees,

but there are enough dead ones.

We mainly just chop those into firewood.

And if you make charcoal from the wood,

just a few trees give as much heat as a whole forest.

And cow dung makes good fuel too.

As much as possible,

we try to live

the natural way, like people did in the past.

These days...

people have forgotten they're a part of nature too.

They can't live without nature,

yet they meddle with it and destroy it.

They always think they can create something better.

Especially scientists.

They may be smart...

but so many of them are completely deaf

to the beating of nature's heart.

They work so hard inventing things that make people unhappy

and then pat themselves on the back for it.

Even worse, the vast majority of people

look at those idiotic inventions as if they were miracles

and bow down before them.

They don't notice that nature is being lost

and that they're heading for extinction.

The most important things for human beings

are clean air and clean water...

and the trees and grass that produce them.

But folks pollute everything,

and it's lost forever.

The polluted air and water

go on to pollute people's hearts.

On my way here...

I saw children placing flowers on a stone.

Why did they do that?

Oh, that.

I heard the story from my late father.

A very long time ago...

an ailing traveler

fell dead on that spot.

The villagers took pity

and buried him right where he died.

They placed that rock there as a kind of tombstone

and offered flowers to it.

It became a custom that continues to this day.

It isn't just the children.

All the villagers

put flowers there as they pass...

without even knowing why anymore.

Is there a festival today?

No, that's a funeral.

You seem to find that odd.

But a funeral is actually a joyous occasion.

It's good to live well and work hard

and then be congratulated on a job well done.

We have no temple or priest,

so all the villagers gather

and carry the deceased

to the cemetery on the hill.

Of course, it's different if a child or young person dies.

You can't really call that auspicious.

But fortunately...

the people here lead a natural way of life

and most die in the order in which they were born.

The lady being buried today

died peacefully at the age of 99.

In fact, I must go now and join the procession.

Please excuse me.

To tell you the truth,

she was my first love.

But she broke my heart

and married another guy.

By the way, how old are you?

Me?

One hundred plus three.

A pretty good age to leave the human race.

Listen, people go on about how hard life is,

but that's just a lot of talk.

Honestly, it's good to be alive.

It's quite exciting.

THE END