Village of Dreams
Contemporary Japan • 1h 52m
Yōichi Higashi • Japan • 1996 • A gentle, rhythmic portrait of youth
Seizo and Yukihiko are identical twins living in a rural Japanese village. Though the year is 1948, the war seems distant, as the boys live out the halcyon days of youth—rolling through grass, catching fish in a brook, getting up to all manner of mischief in their third grade class. A burgeoning artistic talent blooms in both boys, alongside their latent yearnings, as time dilates and expands into an experience that seems everlasting.
Adapted from a memoir by Seizo Tashima, Village of Dreams is a gentle, rhythmic portrait of youth with flourishes of magical realism. Yōichi Higashi’s film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it won a Silver Bear for Outstanding Achievement
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