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A bold departure from his famous samurai epics, Akira Kurosawa's Dodes'ka-den is a kaleidoscopic portrait of dreamers, outcasts and survivors inhabiting a trash-strewn settlement on the outskirts of an unnamed town. At its centre is Roku-chan (Yoshitaka ZUSHI), a boy with an intellectual disability who spends his days diligently operating an imaginary streetcar, punctuating each journey with the rhythmic phrase "dodes'ka-den". Around him unfolds a tapestry of interconnected stories: a father and son envisioning a magnificent home from the shell of an abandoned car, couples trapped in cycles of conflict, neglected children and neighbours striving to preserve their dignity amid poverty. Though their circumstances are harsh, director Kurosawa discovers humour, compassion and resilience in even the most ordinary moments.

Kurosawa’s first colour feature saturates this bleak landscape with vivid reds, yellows and blues, creating a striking contrast between material deprivation and the boundless power of dreams. Complemented by Tōru Takemitsu's lyrical, bittersweet score, the narrative moves seamlessly between reality and fantasy, tragedy and transcendence. A landmark of Kurosawa's later career, Dodes'ka-den received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film in 1972 and remains one of cinema's most moving celebrations of hope in the face of adversity.

PG | Contains suicide references and references to sexual violence