Dodesukaden
| Dodes'ka-den | |
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| Directed by | Akira Kurosawa |
| Written by |
Akira Kurosawa Hideo Oguni Shinobu Hashimoto |
| Starring |
Yoshitaka Zushi Kin Sugai Toshiyuki Tonomura |
| Music by | Tōru Takemitsu |
| Cinematography | Yasumichi Fukuzawa Takao Saitô |
| Edited by | Reiko Kaneko |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Toho |
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Release date
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Running time
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140 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Dodes'ka-den (どですかでん Dodesukaden?, literally, "Clickety-clack") is a 1970 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa and based on the Shūgorō Yamamoto book Kisetsu no nai machi ("The Town Without Seasons").
The film focuses on the lives of a variety of characters who happen to live in a rubbish dump. The first to be introduced is a mentally challenged boy who lives in a world of fantasy in which he is a tram conductor. He is both the tram and the tram driver and follows a set route and schedule through the dump; his dedication to the fantasy is fanatical. The film title refers to a Japanese onomatopoeia for the sound made by a tram or train while in motion ( "Do-desu-ka-den do-desu-ka-den do-desu-ka-den"). The sound is made by the boy as he makes his daily faux-tram route through the dump.
After the success of Red Beard, it took Kurosawa five years before Dodes'ka-den was released. The film was only made by the cooperation and co-producing of three other Japanese directors, Keisuke Kinoshita, Masaki Kobayashi, and Kon Ichikawa.Dodes'ka-den marks a stylistic departure from Kurosawa's previous works. It was the director's first color film, and very few of the actors from Kurosawa's stock company of previous decades were in it. Most cast members were relatively unknown.
Dodes'ka-den was a commercial and critical failure upon its initial release. Abroad, however, the film gained an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Film in the 44th Academy Awards. Its Japanese reception, among other things, sent Kurosawa into a deep depression, and in 1971 he attempted suicide. Despite having slashed himself over 30 times with a razor, Kurosawa survived his suicide attempt.
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