'Dodes'ka-den' review and breakdown of Akira Kurosawa's 1970 film

Dodes'ka-den is a 1970 drama directed by Akira .Kurosawa, written by Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Shinobu Hashimoto and based on a book by Shūgorō Yamamoto called Kisetsu no nai machi ("A Town Without Seasons”). 

The film consists of 8 stories that are connected by an imaginary trolley-car driven by a boy named Rokuchan. The film is produced and distributed by Toho Studios with editing by Reiko Kaneko, cinematography by Yasumichi Fukuzawa and Takao Saitô, and music by Tōru Takemitsu. The film stars Yoshitaka Zushi, Kin Sugai, and Toshiyuki Tonomura. Dodes'ka-den is Kurosawa’s 1st color film and won the Belgian Film Critic Society’s Grand Prix Award.

In a shanty-town within a landfill a boy named Rokuchan begins his daily routine by watching a trolley-car leave the station. Rokuchan then joins his mother at home to chant diamoku. Rokuchan’s dream is to be a trolley conductor and the walls in the tiny home are covered with trolley-car drawings. At precisely 7:00am he puts on his imaginary uniform and goes outside to inspect his imaginary trolley-car. Finally, he starts it up and starts down the road chanting Dodes'ka-den. Kids throw rocks at him and call him the trolley-freak as he passes by.

Rokuchan makes 8 stops:

• His 1st stop is the home of an old wise man named Tanba
• His 2nd stop is the home of Shima who swaps wives with his best friend to find peace
• His 3rd stop is the home of Mr. Shima and his bossy wife
• His 4th stop is the home of 5 children who get to choose their father
• His 5th stop is the home of a girl named Katsuko who faces the decision to kill herself or the man she loves after finding out that she is pregnant
• His 6th stop is the home of Hei who closes off his heart after his wife leaves him for another man
• His 7th stop is a car where a homeless man and his son build their imaginary home
• His 8th and final stop is an old man who receives a new lease on his life after drinking poison

Rokuchan’s imaginary trolley-car is real to him. This does not mean, though, that Rokuchan’s dream is without obstacles. Children ridicule him, call him the trolley-freak and throw rocks at him; vandals spray paint insults on his house; Rokuchan’s imaginary trolley-car nearly collides with a man sitting on the tracks painting a picture. Yet, despite all of these obstacles, including his mother’s tears and doubts, Rokuchan’s trolley-car rolls on.

Proverbs 29:18-- “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

But what would happen to Rokuchan if he gave up on his dream? An old man visits the town elder named Tanba depressed on account of losing both of his sons in a war and his wife 6 months later. The old man tells Tanba that he has nothing to live for and wants to die. Tanba offers the old man some poison and a glass of water. The old man takes the poison and then goes on to say that he is only happy when he is with his sons and his wife in his dreams. Tanba asks the old man if it would be right to kill himself and his wife and 2 sons who continue to live in his dreams. This existential question brings the old man to his senses and he panics after realizing that he had already taken the poison Tanba gave him. Tanba tells him that every poison has a poison that counteracts it. Tanba puts the old man at ease by telling him that he had given him a digestive instead of poison. Depression over the loss of his family made the old man suicidal, a poison Tanba cured by giving the old man the thought that he would be killing something that gave him joy--the dream of his family.

A 15-year old girl named Katsuko lives with her aunt and lazy uncle who rapes her and gets her pregnant. She has a private crush on a delivery boy who she believes will reject her upon finding out that she is pregnant. Her 1st thought is suicide but then she has another thought: what if she killed herself and the delivery boy forgot her? At this thought, Katsuko’s rage turns from herself to him, the delivery boy. He survives her attack and later she apologizes and tells him that the thought of him forgetting her--being erased from his dreams--was simply too much for her to bear. Again, as with the old man, it takes a poison to counteract another poison. Katsuko’s poison is suicide and the thought of the delivery boy forgetting her became the antidote.

Through these examples, we see that Rokuchan gets his life from his dreams. But dreams, like seeds, need nourishment and the proper environment to grow.

Matt. 13:3-8--“A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.”

Hebrews 11:1--“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for...”

Pictures of trolley-cars cover the walls in Rokuchan’s home. He is at the trolley station everyday. When he stops by Mr. Tanba’s house, the old man asks him about his trolley-car; when people see Rokuchan coming, they move out of his way. Doubt is to a dream what drought is to life and when vandals write trolley-freak on Rokuchan’s house his mother wipes it off. Rokuchan turns a deaf ear to children who call him names ridiculing his imaginary trolley-car.

The same cannot be said for the small boy who lives in the car with his father. Although, he and his father share the same dream of having a nice home, the man sends the boy out in the hostile world alone to beg for food. There are no pictures of their dream home in the car as there are pictures of trolley-cars in Rokuchan’s home. And when the boy dies of starvation and food poisoning it is no surprise considering that his dream lacked the proper nourishment and environment.

But not all death is physical; there is also the spiritual death of a man named Hei whose wife, Ocho, leaves him to be with another man. The dead tree in front of his house is the metaphor for a man who has lost his dream.

John 1:12--“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name”
2 Corinthians 6:18--“And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

Rokuchan’s happiness also depends on his reality. Even though no one else can see his trolley-car, he can see it and follows his heart rather than his eyes. This is also the case with Umeko’s 5 children, all of whom have different fathers. Taro--the oldest child--asks his mother’s husband whether or not he is their father. Ryo tells Taro that they are all his children but that if they don’t love him and believe he is their dad, he isn’t. In other words, Ryo gives the 5 children of his wife the power to choose him or not choose him for their father.

Choice, faith, and love makes Rokuchan’s dream real as these makes Ryo the children’s father.

What may look bad may actually be good depending on one’s perspective. At the outset of the film, Mrs. Shima is misjudged by her appearance, demeanor and the women gossiping at the fountain. She gets into an argument with a produce vendor over the price of a cabbage but when the vendor gives in and offers her the cabbage for free she takes it as an insult and insists on paying him for it. When her husband invites 3 of his friends over for dinner, Mrs. Shima makes no effort to hide her resentment. She is rude to her husband’s guests and when she leaves to go to the bath house, Mr. Nomoto sounds off to Mr. Shima about her conduct. Mr. Shima defends his wife by letting Mr. Nomoto know how hard his wife worked to prepare dinner for them.

1 Samuel 16:7--“for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

Then there’s the young man mad about his job and throwing a fit. Mr. Tanba asks the young man to trade places with him. The young man calms down and feels ashamed by Tanba’s offer. All Tanba did was give the man a different perspective on his job by offering to trade places with him. Heaven and Hell are relative. One’s Hell could be someone else’s Heaven and vise versa. Rokuchan’s happiness comes from not what he sees with his eyes but from what he feels in his heart, the perspective he chooses to have on his situation. Like the landfill where he lives, there are treasures and dreams to be found among the trash.

Watching Dodes’ka-den is watching an artist with complete command of his craft. This is a very entertaining film. The film comes with a 36 minute documentary called “It’s Wonderful to Create” where the director, Akira Kurosawa, talks about the film’s production and a big budget American film called Runaway Train he planned on making that got scrapped. After getting fired from the film Tora, Tora, Tora he went on to direct Dodes'ka-den. The film runs 2:20:00 but it’s a fast 2:20:00 and is often very funny in spite of its serious subject matter. I have this film on Criterion DVD and it looks great. I highly recommend this film.