| This is one of a series of notes for A Chronological Biography of Akira Kurosawa.
Shanty dwellers in a Tokyo rubbish dump serve as a microcosm for a celebration of the mixed fortunes of the human condition, and the triumph of loyalty and the imagination. The film's characters live among their fantasies: an old man and a boy build an imaginary dream house, a silent man is obsessed by the idea of his wife's infidelity, and a mentally retarded adolescent thinks he is a tram, repeating the sound "dodes'ka-den, dodes'ka-den." A mix of realism, social commentary, melodrama, and fantasy in a cyclical narrative that encompasses moments of quiet poignancy. Based on Shugoro Yamamoto 's "Kisetsu no nai machi" ( A Town Without Seasons).
Kurosawa's first film in colour.
Tetsu Takemitsu's (better known in the West as Toru Takemitsu) score is one of his best.
Title: Dodes'ka-den
Original Title in Japanese: dodesukaden
Running Time: 140 min
Year: 1970
Company: Yonki-no-kai: (Four Horses Group) and Toho
Writer(s): Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Shinobu Hashimoto
Director(s) of Photography: Takao Saito, Yasumichi Fukuzawa
Production Designer(s): Yoshiro Muraki, Shinobu Muraki
Music: Tetsu Takemitsu
Cast:
Yoshitaka Zushi, Junzaburo Ban, Tatsuo Matsumura, Atsushi Watanabe
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