Kurosawa's Dreams

Dreams
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Akira Kurosawa
Produced by	Hisao Kurosawa Mike Y. Inoue
Written by	Akira Kurosawa
Starring	Akira Terao Martin Scorsese Chishū Ryū Mieko Harada Mitsuko Baisho
Music by	Shinichirô Ikebe
Cinematography	Takao Saito Shôji Ueda
Edited by	Tome Minami
Production company	Akira Kurosawa USA
Distributed by	Warner Bros. (United States) Toho (Japan)
Release date	May 11, 1990 (1990-05-11)
Running time	119 minutes
Country	Japan United States
Language	Japanese French English
Budget	$12 million

Dreams (, Yume, aka Akira Kurosawa's Dreams) is a 1990 Japanese-American magical realism film of eight vignettes written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. It was inspired by actual dreams that Kurosawa claimed to have had repeatedly. It was his first film in 45 years on which he was the sole author of the screenplay. It was made five years after Ran, with assistance from George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, and Steven Spielberg, and funded by Warner Bros. The film was screened out of competition at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.

The film does not have a single narrative, but is rather episodic in nature, following the adventures of a "surrogate Kurosawa" (often recognizable by his wearing Kurosawa's trademark hat) through eight different segments, or "dreams", each one titled.

There is an old legend in Japan that states that when the sun is shining through the rain, the kitsune (foxes) have their weddings (this is a common theme globally – see sunshower). In this first dream, a boy defies the wish of a woman, possibly his mother, to remain at home during a day with such weather. From behind a large tree in the nearby forest, he witnesses the slow wedding procession of the kitsune. Unfortunately, he is spotted by the foxes and runs. When he tries to return home, the same woman says that a fox had come by the house, leaving behind a tantō knife. The woman gives the knife to the boy, implying that he must commit suicide. The woman asks the boy to go and beg forgiveness from the foxes, although they are known to be unforgiving, refusing to let him in unless he does so. The boy sets off into the mountains, towards the place under the rainbow in search for the kitsune's home.

Kurosawa built a near exact replica of his childhood home for this segment, and the nameplate on the gate even reads "Kurosawa". Kurosawa even showed the actress playing the mother a photo of his own mother, and gave her tips on how to act as her.