Dodes'ka-Den (Dodesukaden) (どですかでん)

Coproduced by YONKI NO KAI and TOHO CO., LTD.

DODES'KA-DEN

Concept by

AKIRA KUROSAWA, KEISUKE KINOSHITA

KON ICHIKAWA, MASAKI KOBAYASHI

Executive Producers AKIRA KUROSAWA and YOICHI MATSUE

Based on the novel by SHUGORO YAMAMOTO

Screenplay by AKIRA KUROSAWA HIDEO OGUNI

and SHINOBU HASHIMOTO

Cinematography by TAKAO SAITO YASUMICHI FUKUZAWA

Art direction by YOSHIRO MURAKI SHINOBU MURAKI

Music by TORU TAKEMITSU

Starring:

YOSHITAKA ZUSHI KIN SUGAI

TOSHIYUKI TONOMURA SHINSUKE MINAMI, YUKO KUSUNOKI

JUNZABURO BAN KIYOKO TANGE

MICHIO HINO, KEIJI FURUYAMA TAPPEl SHIMOKAWA

KUNIE TANAKA JITSUKO YOSHIMURA

HISASHI IGAWA HIDEKO OKIYAMA

TATSUO MATSUMURA IMARI TSUJI

TOMOKO YAMAZAKI MASAHIKO KAMETANI

HIROSHI AKUTAGAWA TOMOKO NARAOKA

NOBORU MITANI HIROYUKI KAWASE

AKEMI NEGISHI EIMEl ESUMI

MINORU TAKASHIMA KAZUO KATO

Directed by AKIRA KUROSAWA

I know I often ask this, but please listen to me, dear Buddha.

Please make my mother smarter.

Why that face?

Mother, what's worrying you?

Nothing.

I'm not worried at all.

Please, dear Buddha,

perhaps I ask too often, and you may be tired of this,

but please help my mother.

I'd better go to work now.

The maintenance crew isn't reliable at all.

So it takes more time to do an inspection!

I'm going now.

I've got eight runs this morning.

Same in the afternoon.

I'll be back in the evening.

Look at that.

What are the maintenance men doing?

What a lousy job!

This is an old car, though.

Maybe I shouldn't blame them.

Let's go.

Trolley freak!

Good morning, Mr. Tanba.

Good morning.

Are you still a religious man?

Yes, I say my prayers every morning and evening.

Well, it's hard on your mother.

Don't worry. She's all right because I'm with her.

You're right.

How's the streetcar today?

Not so good, not so bad.

How is business?

Just so-so.

Now -

Say hello to your mother.

Don't get drunk again. Come straight home tonight.

Shut up. You're the one driving me to drink.

Hey.

Let's go, Hatsu.

Okay, buddy. I'll be right out.

Listen.

Come home drunk again and you sleep outside.

What a woman! Why don't you say hello to my buddy?

He was so drunk last night -

Let's go, buddy.

She'll keep going all day if we listen.

All women are the same.

They nag you so much you end up in a bad mood.

After work, let's have a drink.

- Good morning. - Have a nice day.

Shima is a good man.

But I can't stand that tic of his

or that wife of his.

Morning.

Weigh this.

We don't sell cabbage by weight. There's a set price per head.

You expect me to pay for the bad part?

What a greedy vendor!

You can't accuse me of that.

You know my greens are a lot cheaper than in town.

Cheaper and worse.

Your stuff doesn't even come close to the ones in town.

All this about a head of cabbage.

I don't have to listen to your chattering.

Take it. You don't have to pay.

What?

I'm not a beggar!

I asked the price. I'm a customer, aren't I?

- But you treat me like - - I'm sorry. It just slipped out.

Let me weigh it for you.

Why count?

No one cares how many hairs it has.

You may be right,

but for me, there must be just 30.

Watching you work is a pain in the neck!

Hey, who got you pregnant this time?

There's my Umeko.

I hear you're with a new young guy.

You've gotten prettier.

Hey, we haven't done it for a long time.

Take a break from the young guys and let me have a little.

Too good for us?

Why not have a good time with me again?

How are our children? Are they all well?

This is a great disaster to us, Katsuko.

Your aunt is in the hospital for an operation.

God knows till when.

I've arranged for your mother to pay the expenses.

But even though it's her own sister,

she wants us to pay it all back

out of the monthly expenses we spend on you.

Just think about that.

You owe it to your aunt after everything she's done for you.

You must work very hard.

You know what worries her at the hospital.

If you were more attractive and had a better figure,

you could get a better job.

But this is all you can do.

To make up for it, do your aunt's share, too.

Understand?

Your nature isn't even human.

Nor animal.

I'd have to say your nature is purely vegetable.

Hello! It's Isemasa.

Drinking as usual?

I shouldn't say this to a good customer,

but he's really lazy.

He drinks or sleeps while you and his wife work.

Now that his wife is in the hospital, he makes you work all alone.

You've gotten thinner, too.

Here, take this. It's good.

See you later.

Hey, how are you?

Why don't you answer me, asshole!

He has the eyes of a dead man.

He gives me the creeps.

It's just as though he was dead.

I'll bet his blood is as cold as ice.

Our house ought to be built on a hill.

We Japanese used to build houses

in valleys and mountain coves.

We've always preferred the lowlands.

That's true.

I saw pictures of foreign countries.

They have their houses in high places,

but ours are in low places.

There's a reason for that.

There are many earthquakes and typhoons in Japan.

Wooden houses in high places are easily shaken

by earthquakes and typhoons.

So they chose the lowlands to avoid the danger.

But that's not the only reason.

The Japanese prefer soft light

to bright sunshine.

We like shady places.

We like to live in the midst of nature.

So we couldn't get used to concrete houses.

That's right. I don't like concrete houses either.

They're too cold for me.

But we shouldn't forget one thing.

It's true that wooden houses suit the Japanese people.

But we mustn't cling to our culture and characteristics

if we become weak and lose endurance as a result.

By living in houses

made of stone, iron, and concrete,

foreigners have strengthened their characters and capabilities.

Now we're building our own house.

We must take our future into consideration.

We must think of you, your children,

and your grandchildren.

Yes, that's true.

He must have been handsome when he was young.

He still is.

Someone went over to see him one night.

"Someone"? Trying to take a dig at me?

What makes you think that?

Well, did you go all the way?

You always brag about getting what you want.

Something must have happened.

Once I'd made up my mind that I wanted him,

I washed myself with a real perfumed soap at the public bath

and went over to his place.

How exciting.

So did it go well or not?

Well,

when I was just about to enter his house,

I heard an awful groan.

I opened the door a little and looked in.

He was asleep.

He must have been having a nightmare.

He groaned as if he was being crushed.

Then he suddenly woke up...

and said,