Theme Construction in Kurosawa's Dreams

Nature Appreciation and Human Life: Themes in Akira Kurosawa's Dreams

Akira Kurosawa's Dreams is a two-hour allegory that builds its central theme -nature appreciation, respecting it and the role played in human life. The theme is developed from eight separate dreams (minor themes). Just like the name suggests the film is about the dreams of the Akira Kurasowa at different phases of his life- one dream from his childhood, one during his youth period and the other six as an adult. "Sunshine through the Rain" is the first dream, and it entails a young boy who ventures into the forest despite being warned by his mother (Mandie, 1:19-8:30). The boy during his meanders observes a sacred wedding of the human foxes wearing costumes as the rain drizzled. The sun streak forest with silver raindrops amplifies the fantasy of this dream.

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"Peach Orchard" is the next dream in the film and it entails a boy who chases after a girl to a razed peach orchard. Here he faces the traditional china dolls alive and in costumes. The dolls, in turn, reprimand the boy for his family's role in cutting down of the cherished peach trees. The tiered green hillsides further enhance the visual beauty of the scene. "The Blizzard," is the next dream featuring our men struggling to walk on snow covering up to their knees. The men are confused and the struggle to survive the harsh weather as death calls them to end their suffering. The frustrated leader is forced to summon his will to overcome the angel of death luring him to give up (Mandie, 29:24). Although the scene is given an extraordinary visual representation, there is more emphasis on the sounds produced as the travelers struggle to breathe and move through the thick snow. The same metaphor in the Blizzard is exploited in "the Tunnel" where a surviving war veteran heading home enters in a frightening tunnel where at the end he is faced by the ghosts of his dead companions who seek a guarantee that their death is not permanent (Mandie, 39:10-48:34).

In another dream "the Crows," a painter is captivated by a painting which he steps into and has a brief encounter with the master of the painting. The painter inside the painting wonders through a series of vivid country scenes before being returned to the real world by the black crows hovering over a wheat plantation (Mandie, 49:06: 56:04). The next two dream "Mt. Fuji in Red" depicts apocalyptic visions where people are forced to jump into the sea to escape the radioactive materials of a nuclear meltdown (Mandie, 56:04-1:0:59). And just like "Mt. Fuji in Red" the next dream "The Weeping Demon" is a grim dream that depicts the aftermath of human-made destructions on a planet to the extent that there is no nature and people have developed into scary mutants. The conflict between individuals whether to live or die is further depicted in this scene with some preferring whether to be demons (Mandie, 1:13:58). "The Village of Water Mills" is the last dream talks about the importance of nature and appreciating it and the benefits that comes with such actions. The benefits of nature, its appreciation, obedience are identified as the most significant things in human life (Mandie, 1:16:01-1:28:10).

Theme Construction in Coffee and Cigarettes

The themes in Coffee and Cigarettes are uniquely built up from the eleven separate vignettes. In the scene, two to three people are involved in the discussion of with each celebrity playing a semi-fictionalized role with the exclusion of the staff members at the food service establishments where they met. In the first vignette "strange to meet you," Roberto and Steven start as a somewhat casual conversation which becomes longer as they talk about their love for drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes and gradually moving to a more personal conversation such as Steven's dental appointment (Sabagh, 1:40-6:35).

In the other ten stories the conversations between people of distinct social positioning are also of various nature but under the same conditions of coffee/tea and cigarettes playing a pivotal role in overcoming disagreements and neutralizing the less comfortable scenarios. The actors Steve Coogan and Alfred Molina are involved in a discussion about relocation to Los Angeles. There is also an instance of the white stripes testing an electric current coil, music legends Pop and Waits to make their need to end their smoking habits with while enjoying a cigarette together. Cate Blanchett meets a distant cousin at an airport lounge and, Murray having a chat with Murray o the importance of drinking herbal tea (Sabagh, 20:35-1:29:52). The film depicts various themes with the major one's entailing the cousinhood, Lee family, the importance of herbal medicine, Tesla conductor, worship and music careers. Coffee and cigarettes are the main factors that guide the conversations in the film. At some point, the discussion is changed by the protagonists to constitute the two elements and how important they are in their lives. By talking about other issues in the context of coffee and cigarettes, the two components are depicted as social lubricants in the conversations and creating an amicable theme focusing on the specific level of discussion throughout the interaction despite having detrimental effects to individual's health due to addiction.

Differences Between Kurasawa's Dreams and, Coffee & Cigarettes

In Kurosawa's Dreams the flow of the movie is attained by carrying the concept of the different themes through to the next vignette thus creating a lyrical range. The main concern of the film is the central theme about man's respect for nature which is depicted throughout the sense from the beginning at the in the punishment of the boy for abuse of nature to the beauty of landscape drawings to the nuclear holocaust and its aftermath. The human need for life and fear of death is directly linked with the need to protect and respect nature. Coffee and Cigarettes, on the other hand, focuses on various themes that are not related and neither do they form a central theme. The discussions held by the protagonists are of varied nature and shifts from scene to scene. However, the lack of continuity in the film is summed up by one common feature "Coffee drinking and cigarettes smoking" with a graceful moment in the end. Although the two elements are considered addictive and may pose adverse health effects to the users, the bad habits are depicted to create a moment of agreement and fantasy.

Dream's splashes rich colors accompanied by great imagery representations on the screen as an amplifier of the classic storytelling technique aimed at enhancing viewers understanding by creating a profound insight into the film. The latter is utterly different from Coffee and Cigarettes which utilizes monochrome colors to create an aesthetic that relates to the idea of interpersonal contrast among individuals yet they manage to sit together and agree on diverse situations over coffee and cigarettes.

Works Cited

Mandie, Lois. "Yume - Akira Kurosawa's Dreams - Japanese (1990)". Youtube. Feb 19, 2017. Accessed on 11th October 2018 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ryg5K4qGHD4.

Sabagh, Atusa. "Coffee and Cigarettes 2003 720p DownloadRooz". Youtube. Feb 25, 2017. Accessed on 11th October 2018 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBgJ7OrybVk.