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Dodes'ka-Den [Criterion Collection]

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Dodes'ka-Den [Criterion Collection]

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Overview

Dodes'ka-Den (aka Dodesukaden) was Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa's first project since Red Beard (1965), and his first ever in color. Kurosawa focuses this time on Tokyo slum life. We watch as a variety of unfortunates debase themselves to survive, yet, somehow, emerge with more innate dignity than the so-called "better" people. While it seems inconceivable that Dodes'ka-Den would fail at the box office, fail it did upon its original release. The Japanese distributors hastily pared down the film's 244 minutes to 140 (unfortunately destroying the original negative in the process), but this version also came a cropper. It was the negative reaction to Dodes'ka-Den, which allegedly prompted Kurosawa to attempt suicide. Happily, he survived to reclaim his industry stature with 1976's Dersu Uzala.

Product Details

Release Date:	03/17/2009
UPC:	0715515042918
Original Release:	1970
Rating:	NR
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	1
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	2:20:00
Sales rank:	13,795

Special Features

New, restored high-definition digital transfer; Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful To Create, a 36-minute documentary, created as part o fthe Toho Masterworks series, about the making of Dodes'ka-den, including interviews with director Akira Kurosawa, script supervisor Teruyo Nogami, actor Yoshitaka Zushi, and other members of the cast and crew; Theatrical trailer; New and improved English subtitle translation; Plus: a booklet featuring new essay by film historian Stephen Prince and a new interview with Nogami

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Kin Sugai	Rokkuchan's Mother
Kazou Kato	Painter
Junzaburo Ban	Shima
Yoshitaka Zushi	Rokkuchan
Kiyoko Tange	Shima's Wife
Michiko Hino	Shima's Guest
Tape Shimokawa	Shima's Guest
Keishi Furuyama	Shima's Guest
Hisashi Igawa	Masuda
Hideko Okiyama	Masuda's Wife
Kunie Tanaka	Kawaguchi
Jitsuko Yoshimura	Kawaguchi's Wife
Shinsuke Minami	Ryo
Yuko Kusunoki	Ryo's Wife
Toshiyuki Tonomura	Kawaguchi's Child
Miika Oshida	Ryo's Child
Satoshi Hasegawa	Ryo's Child
Kumiko Ono	Ryo's Child
Tatsuhiko Yagishita	Ryo's Child
Tatsuo Matsumura	Kyota
Isuji Imura	Kyota's Wife
Tomoko Yamazaki	Kyota's Step Daughter
Masahiko Kametani	Okabe
Noboru Mitani	Beggar
Hiroyuki Kawase	Beggar's Son
Hiroshi Akutagawa	Hei
Tomoko Naraoka	Ocho, Hei's Wife
Atsushi Watanabe	Tamba
Jerry Fujio	Kumamba
Sanji Kojima	Thief
Masahiko Tanimura	Vegetable Man
Akemi Negishi	Girl
Michiko Araki	Bar Girl
Shoichi Kuwayama	Cook
Kamatari Fujiwara	Old Man
Tatsuo Matsumara	Kyota Watanaka
Kazuo Katô	Painter
Koji Mitsui	Bartender
Tôru Takemitsu	Composer

Technical Credits

Akira Kurosawa	Director,Screenwriter,Producer
Hideo Oguni	Screenwriter
Yoichi Matsue	Producer
Masaki Kobayashi	Producer
Kon Ichikawa	Producer
Keisuke Kinoshita	Producer
Shinobu Hashimoto	Screenwriter

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Dodes'ka-Den
1. Opening Credits [2:02]
2. Rokuchan [5:05]
3. Trolley Run to Tanba's [7:18]
4. Red, Yellow, and Shima [3:55]
5. The Sawagamis [2:14]
6. Katsuko and Her Uncle [4:48]
7. Building a Dream House [3:59]
8. Tale Of Hei [4:32]
9. Swapping Mates [6:37]
10. Beggar's Banquet [6:10]
11. "The Money Is Over Here" [2:59]
12. "Dodes'ka-den" [5:10]
13. Ocho's Return [7:35]
14. Rainy-Day Visions [4:46]
15. "Eating For Two" [2:36]
16. Tricks Of the Trade [7:27]
17. Angels and Demons [6:56]
18. Ryo's Children [3:54]
19. Katsuko's Aunt Returns [3:23]
20. Defending Mrs. Shima [8:43]
21. Ocho's Plea [3:37]
22. Pride [5:29]
23. Aches and Pains [4:53]
24. "No Longer a Tree" [4:06]
25. Kyota Confronted [3:27]
26. Drunk As Usual [6:02]
27. "The Worst Is Over" [3:27]
28. The Swimming Pool [4:50]
29. All In a Day's Work [3:48]
30. Color Bars [:00]
1. The Runaway Train [5:28]
2. Tora! Tora! Tora! [5:54]
3. Dodes'ka-den [5:04]
4. "Ready, Action!" [3:15]
5. First Color Film [4:36]
6. New Troupe of Actors [2:57]
7. Shima's Scene [5:17]
8. Kagemusha and Langlois [3:47]

From the B&N Reads Blog

Page 1 of

Editorial Reviews

Even if the only available version of Akira Kurosawa's underrated drama of life in a city slum is a truncated one, the film's episodic structure doesn't noticeably suffer from severe editing the way a tightly woven narrative would. If nothing else, Dodes'ka-Den would be important as the master's first film in color; for Kurosawa, the decision wasn't taken casually. To reflect the moods of his cast of struggling characters, he alters the colors of the sky which shelters them. The obvious link to a previous Kurosawa film is his 1957 version of Maxim Gorky's The Lower Depths, if only for its portrayal of people at the lowest rung of society. But by the late '60s, Kurosawa was clearly in a more hopeful mood, infusing many of this film's potentially downbeat situations with elements of optimism. It's a bitter irony that negative public reaction to such a film resulted in Kurosawa's nearly ending his life. Had his career ended with this film, it would have concluded on a work of middle rank; even so, that places Dodes'ka-Den high above the entire output of most other filmmakers.

All Movie Guide - Tom Wiener

Dodes'ka-Den [Criterion Collection]

Dodes'ka-Den [Criterion Collection]

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