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kinjitsu wrote: "Desperate for income, he signed to do a television commercial for a pharmaceutical film, but still had that beard. Kurosawa feeling the beard was, in essence, partly his, didn't want Mifune to do it."

This is all hearsay, but the beard story I heard was slightly different. The beard drastically reduced Mifune's options for fill in work (e.g. commercials, roles in other movies) and Kurosawa wouldn't allow him to shave it off.

But I think you're right that the real story runs deeper. It seems to me that Mifune (rightly) resented being taken for granted to such an extent that it compromised his ability to earn a living; and Kurosawa resented the resentment. And Kurosawa at least (but probably both of them) was too proud to mend any fences later on.

I just finished watching the film and I very much enjoyed it. I've now seen 10 Kurosawa movies. I really enjoyed the music in the film. One part that really stuck out was a scene between the husband and his wife's neice. There is a wall seperating them and the neice is almost being pushed out of the shot. I thought that the shot was excellently set up.

DODES'KA-DEN is, imho, a criminally underrated film. While perhaps not among the director's finest work, it's superior to most of the works which followed it. It certainly ranks among his most visually impressive films, and contains what is still my favorite opening sequence of any Kurosawa picture.

So does a DVD exist? I'm always interested in films that explore the use of color.

Greathinker wrote:So does a DVD exist? I'm always interested in films that explore the use of color.

There is a good disc in France, with French subs only.

ByMarkClark.com wrote:DODES'KA-DEN is, imho, a criminally underrated film. While perhaps not among the director's finest work, it's superior to most of the works which followed it. It certainly ranks among his most visually impressive films, and contains what is still my favorite opening sequence of any Kurosawa picture.

The visual affects in the scenes with the father and son were very impressive. The makeup work was also very good and made it more surreal.

I just noticed that the Playstation store has Dreams in HD for download. Has anyone seen it in HD? I've searched for reviews on the HD transfer but have been unable to find one.