Unfolding in a series of eight mythic vignettes, this late work by Akira Kurosawa was inspired by the director’s own nighttime visions, along with stories from Japanese folklore. Tales of childlike wonder give way to apocalyptic apparitions: a young boy stumbles on a fox wedding in a forest; a soldier confronts the ghosts of the war dead; a power plant meltdown smothers a seaside landscape in radioactive fumes. Interspersed with reflections on the redemptive power of creation, including a tribute to Vincent van Gogh (Martin Scorsese), Dreams is both a showcase for its maker’s artistry and a deeply personal lament for a world at the mercy of human ignorance.