Dodes'ka-den (Criterion Collection) (DVD)

By turns tragic and transcendent, Akira Kurosawa's Dodes'ka-den follows the daily lives of a group of people barely scraping by in a slum on the outskirts of Tokyo. Yet as desperate as their circumstances are, each of them-the homeless father and son envisioning their dream house; the young woman abused by her uncle; the boy who imagines himself a trolley conductor-finds reasons to carry on. Kurosawa's unforgettable film was made at a tumultuous moment in his life. And all of his hopes, fears, and artistic passion are on fervent display in this, his gloriously shot first color film.

Starring: Hideko Okiyama, Toshiyuki Tonomura, Michiko Araki, Jerry Fujio, Yoshitaka Zushi, Kin Sugai, Michiko Hino, Tape Shimokawa, Keishi Furuyama, Jitsuko Yoshimura, Hiroshi Akutagawa, Hiroyuki Kawase, Koji Mitsui, Noboru Mitani, Shoichi Kuwayama, Tatsuo Matsumara, Tomoko Yamazaki, Yuko Kusunoki, Junzaburo Ban, Kiyoko Tange, Hisashi Igawa, Kunie Tanaka, Tatsuo Matsumura, Atsushi Watanabe, Masahiko Tanimura, Kazuo Kato, Akemi Negishi, Kamatari Fujiwara

Director: Akira Kurosawa, Keisuke Kinoshita, Kon Ichikawa, Masaki Kobayashi