Dodes'ka-den
1970 · Movie · 140 min · ★ 7.1 · 78% critics
Set on the edge of a Tokyo dump, a shantytown comes to life through interwoven vignettes about survival and imagination. Residents include a boy who “drives” an imaginary trolley, a father and son who dream up a better home, and others navigating hardship with brief flickers of kindness.
Also known as Dodesukaden · Clickety-Clack
Where to watch
Streaming on HBO Max and The Criterion Channel.
2 hours to watch.
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Details
- Original title
- どですかでん
- Years
- 1970
- Release date
- 1970-10-31
- Language
- Japanese
- Runtime
- 140 min
- Critic score
- 78/100
- TMDB rating
- 7.1/10 (153 votes)
About
You’ll like this if you enjoy Kurosawa’s overlapping slice-of-life vignettes and compassion amid hardship in The Lower Depths; Not for you if you want a tightly plotted, action-driven story like Sanjuro or Red Beard.
Pros: unflinching human vignettes; harsh-to-gentle empathy; bold tonal variety | Cons: uneven storytelling pace; bleak and tough to sit; some segments feel dated
Themes
- based on novel or book
- slum
- despair
- poverty
- multiple storylines
- garbage dump dwellers
Awards & recognition
- Academy Award — Best International Feature Film · 1972 · nominated
- International Submission to the Academy Awards · 1972 · nominated
Cast & crew
Yoshitaka Zushi
as Roku-Chan
Kin Sugai
as Okuni
- TT
Toshiyuki Tonomura
as Taro Sawagami
Shinsuke Minami
as Ryotaro Sawagami
Yūko Kusunoki
as Misao Sawagami
Junzaburō Ban
as Yukichi Shima
- KT
Kiyoko Tange
as Mrs. Shima
Michio Hino
as Mr. Ikawa
- KF
Keiji Furuyama
as Mr. Matsui
Tappei Shimokawa
as Mr. Nomoto
Directed by Akira Kurosawa