Dodesukaden (1970)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Shinobu Hashimoto (writer)
Akira Kurosawa (writer)

Release Date:

9 June 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy

Plot:

Episodes from the lives of a group of Tokyo slum-dwellers: Rokkuchan, a retarded boy who brings meaning...

Plot Keywords:

Poverty | Artificial Flower | Garbage Dump | Alcohol | Ghetto

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins

Cast

Yoshitaka Zushi	...	Rokkuchan
Kin Sugai	...	Okuni, Rokkuchan's Mother
Toshiyuki Tonomura	...	Taro Sawagami
Shinsuke Minami	...	Ryotaro Sawagami
Yûko Kusunoki	...	Misao Sawagami
Junzaburo Ban	...	Yukichi Shima
Kiyoko Tange	...	Mrs. Shima
Michio Hino	...	Mr. Ikawa
Keiji Furuyama	...	Mr. Matsui
Tappei Shimokawa	...	Mr. Nomoto
Kunie Tanaka	...	Hatsutaro Kawaguchi
Jitsuko Yoshimura	...	Yoshie Kawaguchi
Hisashi Igawa	...	Masuo Masuda
Hideko Okiyama	...	Tatsu Masuda
Tatsuo Matsumura	...	Kyota Watanaka

Also Known As:

Clickety-Clack (literal English title)
Dô desu ka den (Japan) (alternative transliteration)
Dodes'ka-den (Japan) (alternative transliteration)
Dodes'ka-den (Poland) [pl]
Dodes'ka-den (Italy) [it]
Dodes'ka-den (Sweden) [sv]
Dodeskaden (Denmark) [da]
Dodeskaden (France) [fr]
Dodeskaden - Menschen im Abseits (West Germany) [de]
Dodeskaden - O Caminho da Vida (Brazil) [pt]
I geitonia ton katafronemenon (Greece) [el]
Köyhän pikajuna (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

140 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | Sweden:15 | UK:A

Filming Locations:

Horie-cho, Edogawa-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

His portrayal of the beggar was the first film role for Noboru Mitani in a career that continues to be active after more than 60 feature films and over 35 years later.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Music for the Movies: Tôru Takemitsu (1994)

Magical

Its definitely not for everyone; a great artist, when he is experimenting, often alienates a large percentage of the public. For my money, its one of the more amazing films of all time, and contains numerous scenes which I can recall vividly; the now-over-the-edge of sanity father exclaiming "the house is finished!"; the stuttering husband defending his rude wife to his guests; the monk offering all of his possessions to a thief; and most of all the incredible closing scene, as the camera pans across walls covered with amazing color drawings of trolley-cars. The compassion Kurosawa shows for humanity is deep and profound; there is nothing else in the annals of film quite like the Buddhist-influenced post-WW2 works of the Japanese directors. There are many many millions of people on the planet today who do not live as well as this little community in the middle of their garbage-dump.