Dodes'ka-den (Japan, 1970)

Episodes from the lives of a group of Tokyo slum-dwellers: Rokkuchan, a retarded boy who brings meaning and routine to his life by driving an imaginary streetcar; children who support their parents by scrounging or by tedious and ill-paying endeavors; schemers who plot or dream of escaping the shackles of poverty.

Dodes'ka-den was directed by a man I think we all know, Akira Kurosawa. The master of Japanese cinema, the man who gave us so many classics and amazing movies that it's nearly mind-blowing. But, if you think that Kurosawa simply lived an easy life directing masterpiece after masterpiece, you'd be wrong. In the 70's, Kurosawa went through some of his toughest times ever, and the biggest reason for his declining mental state was the movie Tora! Tora! Tora!, a Hollywood film he had been involved in and it had been such a nightmarish experience that he had to leave the production. After this, Kurosawa had few chances left of making another film, the first project was Dodes'ka-den, his first film in color. Yet, things went wrong again, and the film became a commercial failure. Kurosawa tried to commit suicide the following year, and sailed into a depression. 

So, that's some backstory. How does the film hold up today? It's very different from the directors other works, but still, I liked it very much. It portrays a bunch of interesting characters that lives in a scrapyard, but instead of acting like a sad bunch of homeless people, these folks have dreams, hopes and they laugh just as if they had lived anywhere else. So despite being made in a turbulent and difficult time in Kurosawa's life, Dodes'ka-den contains a lot of heart, and I wish that it had gotten the praise that it deserves.  

Genre: Drama