Dreams

More than a conventional narrative, Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams is a sequence of vivid visual poems: lush landscapes, vast skies, torrential storms, and painterly worlds inspired by dreams and memory, by emotions that range from horror to ecstasy. On a large screen, the scale and detail of these images become overwhelming in the best possible way, allowing viewers to be immersed in Kurosawa’s vision. The theatrical experience also amplifies the film’s extraordinary use of sound and silence, from the gentle rustling of forests to the apocalyptic roar of catastrophe. Seen in a darkened cinema, Dreams feels less like watching a movie and more like stepping inside another consciousness, making the big screen the ideal way to encounter one of cinema’s most visually transcendent works.

Written by Michael Cuenco.