Akira Kurosawa's Dreams - The Criterion Collection (Japanese, Blu-ray disc)

Director Akira Kurosawa draws inspiration from his childhood dreams for this episodic film featuring eight narratives about a man's relationship with nature. The first dream, 'Sunshine Through the Rain', depicts the belief that foxes marry when the sun shines through a rainstorm. 'The Peach Orchard' follows the link between a doll festival and fruit trees which have the power to bring the dolls to life. In 'The Blizzard', a group of mountaineers struggle to walk on as the snow hampers their progress. 'The Tunnel' follows the journey of a discharged commander who is returning home from the Second World War. In 'Crows', Martin Scorsese stars as Vincent Van Gogh who is discovered when an art student travels through one of his paintings. 'Mount Fuji in Red' follows the chaos that ensues after six reactors at a nuclear plant near Mount Fuji explode, filling the skies with bright red fumes. In 'The Weeping Demon', a boy lost in the mountains comes across a horned man who explains that a holocaust has wiped out the human race. Finally, in 'Village of the Watermills', a young man on his travels discovers a village where the inhabitants have renounced modern technology to live a simple life off the land.