Sunshine through the Rain The Japanese film, Dreams, tells the story of Akira Kurosawas dreams at some

points in his life. The first dream, Sunshine through the Rain, depicts a young boy who dared to pay a visit without being noticed at the wedding procession of the foxes, which according to the legends, occurs every time the sun and the rain are present together. However, in his attempt to witness the legend, he was detected by the foxes so he immediately escaped. Upon his arrival at home, his mother warned him that a fox dropped by and a knife was given to him which meant that he was to take his own life. His mother told him to plead to the foxes; otherwise he wont be able to live in his own home. The boy then obeys his mother and takes on a journey in search of the foxes. This dream seems peculiar and quite surprising to the audience but studying the Japanese culture, one would see that there are many legends that are passed on from generation to generation. The legend in this dream shows how powerful foxes or the kitsune are and how people respect their myths about them. Also, it was mentioned that foxes are said to be unforgiving and before knowing that, the boys curiosity led him to the trap. In my opinion, among the other dreams I have watched, this one was quite thoughtprovoking. The end of this film let the audience think of the most probable consequences that the boy is about to face. The boy, out of his self-interest, had disobeyed his mothers warning about the foxes ceremony and later, when he returned home and was told to go beg the foxes, out of fear then he obeyed. In real life, many children, no matter how innocent they are and despite the elders orders, tend to go astray. Their imagination, since this characteristic is innate in most children, hinders them from listening and understanding what the truth really is.

Peach Orchard The second dream, Peach Orchard, illustrates the story the boys melancholy over the demise of their familys peach orchard. One day, he notices a mysterious girl wandering around his house to which his sister opposed on. He pursues the girl outside and saw a group of human-sized dolls who turned out to be the spirits of the peach trees. The spirits spoke angrily to the boy for having chopped down the tress but the boy responded how much he loved the trees so the spirits forgave him and decided to present him a dance for the last time. After the dance, they disappeared but the boy came across what appears to be a sprout of a peach tree. This dream manifested the significance of nature to the Japanese culture. The finale of the film hinted that there might be a new beginning for the peach orchard. In the process of the dolls reprimanding the boy, he realized that it was time to show himself and stand up, telling them how he truly feels about the peach trees. Before, he seemed helpless when his family chose to chop down the trees but his feelings did not change after all. The spirits came to understand the truth of the boys attachment to the culture and even rewarded him for a moment there. This dream further shows how, in real life, cultural traditions shape a persons true identity and beliefs and the people around him or her must not be the ones who influence him in the end.

The Blizzard The third dream, the Blizzard, is about a group of mountaineers who fought their way against the raging snowstorm up in the mountains. Realizing that it took them days before reaching their destination, they were prepared to surrender to the storm and slowly, each mountaineer finally halted and rested for good. The leader, however, tried to gave them confidence but later he also went with their decision. A mysterious woman came into sight and tries to tempt the man to submit himself to death but the mans last strength resisted the womans attempts, woke himself and his friends up and learns that their campsite was near them all along. This dream did not fail to enlighten the audience about ones trust and confidence in himself. In real life, people experience the worst time in their lives at some point. Some chose to admit defeat and move on but some chose to continue fighting and try to see the positive things in their situation. In fact, this is the time when one can measure his or her forte in facing lifes challenges. The outcome of their decisions is just a bonus to people but the efforts and learning they get for the whole period of their struggles count more importantly. In the lifetime of an individual, this kind of things aims to improve ones character development. If, in spite of this, one came into contact with temptations and events that might seem to drive him or her into giving up even his or her morals, then this is the best moment to test ones self.

The Tunnel The fourth dream, The Tunnel, concerns the nightmare of a Japanese man returning home from his service in the army during the Second World War and in his encounter with a daunting tunnel. At the other side of the tunnel, a ghost who appeared to be one of his dead soldiers, walked through the same tunnel and approaches the man. The man convinces the solider about his regretful death and that he returns inside the tunnel. However, the entire platoon of dead soldiers suddenly marched out of the tunnel and wanted the verification of their death. The man told them the whole story and expressed his remorse for leaving them to die in the war to which no reply from the soldiers came. The man then gave his final orders for the dead platoon to march back into the tunnel. This dream tells the most dreadful events that a country has come to decide upon. War is the last thing a person wants to happen but then, hunger for power hinders a country from achieving what its real goal is: to establish association with the other countries. Moreover, war entails a lot funding from the government and worse, the oath of the soldiers to sacrifice their lives. A persons life is priceless; however, countries that engage in a war dont have what it takes to replace the lives of both the soldiers and the innocent people. Wars will seem meaningless when more damage and loss are incurred than everything else that a country has spent on.

Mount Fuji in Red The sixth dream, Mount Fuji in Red, shows the worst nightmare of a nuclear power plants nonstop explosion. The sky illuminated red like hell and the people are compelled to run for their lives but it seemed that to escape is rather out of the question. After a specific time frame, the episode showed the last four surviving people, two men and women with her two children, by the ocean. The man in a business suit then explained that the rest of the people decided to drown themselves in the ocean, further telling them that those people rather preferred death at once than a slow yet painful death caused by the radioactive colored substances. The woman curses the people responsible for reassuring the power plants safety, thus driving the businessman to confess his guilt. The other man notices that a cloud of the lethal substances began to draw near them. Unfortunately, the businessman had dived into the ocean and the other man then attempted to repel the toxic cloud and protect the woman and her children. This dream is yet another nightmare for the countries that depend on nuclear power plant for its energy resources. People know the devastating effects of nuclear energy to the environment but as a source of energy, many countries today are left to invest on this source. Furthermore, it is believed that nuclear energy is used by countries to develop weapons in case a war emerges again despite the atomic bombings in Japan that occurred during the war. Nevertheless, people havent learned their lesson yet and continue to operate on nuclear power plants, without knowing that another tragedy awaits them.

Village of the Watermills The last dream, Village of the Watermills, captures the picture of a peaceful and unpolluted village where nobody dies at a young age. A man travels the village and stumbles upon a 93-year-old man who is putting a broken watermill into working order. The elder elucidates him that the villagers chose to abandon the impact created by modern technology and instead, live in an untainted place. In addition, funerals are celebrated for joy, indicating that the death of the person meant his or her good end. I believe that this episode is the ultimate dream that humanity should long for. Nowadays, the emergence of modern technology allowed people to experience convenience despite the costs. As a matter of fact, no matter how great the efforts are for people to develop, by any means, some kind of technology for living a longer life, they dont see that eliminating the use of technology is the answer. Sadly, it seems unachievable in the present day when people have already been bombarded with technology and ironically, to them, more technology signified a much simpler life. We see that health becomes least in their priorities since they believe that man will always invent something. However, on a lighter note, one can still practice true simple life even for a moment by bonding with nature from time to time and must remember that nature is, in fact, the one that makes living a good life possible.