The Movie Dreams by akira kurosawa conveyed the idea of awareness. In the eight short stories she touched several themes that where obvious to my eyes. For example, the first short film called “Sunshine though the rain” shows a child that didn’t listen to his mother (to not go into the woods) and his curiosity was stronger than anything and disobeyed his mother. The second film, (The peach orchard) demonstrated how the spirits of the tress became upset when some orchard trees where cut out. This story also had the theme of ‘Nature and its importance’. This is shown by the main character (small boy) crying because he wouldn’t see the trees bloom no more. Showing that the boy is aware of the ‘importance of nature’ and his feeling of sorrow showed how bad it was to not see nature do it’s work. Similarly, both of these stories “Sunshine thought the rain” and “The peach orchard” illustrated young characters being developed from a young age. Also, Both boys are getting a taste of the meaning of human mistakes.
The second group of stories touch the idea of death and the interaction of nature in the world (The blizzard and the Tunnel). First, The Blizzard was a story about how a couple of men where trying to reach a Goal, to travel from one camp to the next. Their hard breathing gave a sense of the struggle that they where facing and how “nature” was trying to retain them in order to destroy them. Second, the tunnel gave the theme of the cross over of the living and the dead. The tunnel represented that transition from life and death. Here, the main character of “The Tunnel” is faced with the consequences of the war and mentioned….”I was to blame”, “Stupidity of war”, and “our misconduct” often referring to how humans themselves are what cause their own death. What both stories have in common is the theme of death and how nature has it’s time and place for death and if we try to manipulate in (like in war) that would be playing with nature. Another thing that captured my attention from the movies was the slow pace of the movie and sound which was probably intended to make the viewer feel and reflect on what was going on with the characters in both stories.
The Third Group of stories include; The crows, Mount Fuji in red, the weeping demon, and Village of water mills. These tree stories share the same Character which gives the theme of “the creative process” a creator/painter has to think/go though. The first story (The crows) shows the character being curious and trying to look at things differently. In the movie the setting was animated which seemed like dreams. I also recall the character of Van Gogh saying “look closely, dreams paint settings”, perhaps referring to us and the character it self in how all the stories come together. The second story “Mount Fuji in red” touched the concepts of “creation” (what people make) and it’s consequences they can have. This short story showed several nuclear power plans blowing up and releasing radioactive gases. These gases killed many and death in the story was obvious. Third, “The weeping demon” shows the morality humans may poses. This story presents a futuristic view of consequences nuclear wars may cause. In this story we see mutations in plants and the pain people can acquire by the mistakes of humans. This story also makes the viewer interact by how the demon mentions “do you want to become a demon too?” leaving the viewer with such question. Lastly, in “Village of the water mills” teaches the main character how this world (humans) can be materialistic inclined and at the end all will parish (death). This story also teaches that our heart can be dirty and that we have to learn that living is a gift.
Over all these stories share the theme of being self-conscious and to be aware of the things around us and the terrible consequences our decisions may have. Also, the stories want us as a viewer to feel a connection with nature and the meaning of life from a young age and to never take it for granted.