Yume jû-ya (2006)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Directors:

Yoshitaka Amano
Kon Ichikawa
(more)

Writers:

Soseki Natsume (stories) and
Shinichi Inozume (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

2007 (Japan)

Genre:

Fantasy

Plot Keywords:

Anthology

Cast

Kyôko Koizumi	...	segment - 'The 1st Night'
Suzuki Matsuo	...	segment - 'The 1st Night'
Tsuyoshi Ujiki	...	segment - 'The 2nd Night'
Umenosuke Nakamura	...	segment - 'The 2nd Night'
Keisuke Horibe	...	segment - 'The 3rd Night'
Yu Kashii	...	segment - 'The 3rd Night'
Kôji Yamamoto	...	segment - 'The 4th Night'
Mikako Ichikawa	...	segment - 'The 5th Night'
Koji Ookura	...	segment - 'The 5th Night'
Sadao Abe	...	segment - 'The 6th Night'
Tozawa	...	segment - 'The 6th Night'
Yoshizumi Ishihara	...	segment - 'The 6th Night'
Sacha	...	segment - 'The 7th Night'
Fumika Hidejima	...	segment - 'The 7th Night'
Hiroshi Fujioka	...	segment - 'The 8th Night'
Tamaki Ogawa	...	segment - 'The 9th Night'
Pierre Taki	...	segment - 'The 9th Night'
Ken'ichi Matsuyama	...	segment - 'The 10th Night'
Manami Honjou	...	segment - 'The 10th Night'
Kôji Ishizaka	...	segment - 'The 10th Night'
Erika Toda	...	Girl in Prologue / Epilogue
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Satoshi Hakuzen	...	segment - 'The 10th Night'
Sascha	...	Soseki
Erika Terajima

Directed by
Yoshitaka Amano
Kon Ichikawa
Akio Jissoji
Masaaki Kawahara
Suzuki Matsuo
Miwa Nishikawa
Atsushi Shimizu
Takashi Shimizu
Keisuke Toyoshima
Yûdai Yamaguchi
Nobuhiro Yamashita

Writing credits
Soseki Natsume		(stories)
Shinichi Inozume		screenplay
Gatarô Man		screenplay
Miwa Nishikawa		screenplay
Takashi Shimizu		screenplay
Keisuke Toyoshima		screenplay
Nobuhiro Yamashita		screenplay

Produced by
Tsutomu Kuno	....	producer
Hiroki Ôta	....	producer
Yutaka Tsunoda	....	producer

Cinematography by
Isao Ishii		(segment: "The 8th Night")
Yukio Isohata		(segment: "The 2nd Night")
Shinya Kimura		(segment: "The 5th Night")
Shu G. Momose		(segment: "The 10th Night")
Atsuhiro Nabeshima		(segment: "The 4th Night")
Masao Nakabori		(segment: "The 1st Night")
Akihiro Okabayashi		(segment: "The 6th Night")
Takamitsu Suzuki		(segment: "The 9th Night")
Tsukasa Tanabe		(segment: "The 3rd Night")

Production Design by
Emiko Tsuyuki

Makeup Department
Yoshihiro Nishimura	....	special makeup effects artist

Special Effects by
Yoshihiro Nishimura	....	moldmaker

Stunts
Naohiro Kawamoto	....	stunts
Hiroko Yashiki	....	stunt double

Other crew
Gô Ohara	....	action director (segment: "The 10th Night")

Production Companies

• Nikkatsu Pictures
• Nikkatsu
• Yume Jûya Seisaku Iinkai

Distributors

• Nikkatsu Pictures (2006) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Nikkatsu (2007) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Cinema Epoch (2008) (USA) (all media)
• Nikkatsu (2007) (Japan) (DVD)

Other Companies

• U'Den Flame Works  stunts

Also Known As:

Ten Nights of Dream (International: English title)
Ten Nights of Dreams (USA)

Runtime:

Japan:100 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Taiwan:PG-12 | South Korea:12

Company:

Nikkatsu Pictures

Entertaining if strange anthology

Based on a series of short stories written by Japanese author Natsume Sōseki in 1908, this film doles out each story to a different director for a short 7 to 13 minute film.

The stories are very dream-like with a logic structure from dreams so it's hard to explain the "plot". In one a writer's wife announces she is leaving after living with him for a hundred years. Another has a samurai being taunted by a drunk monk. Another has a man carve a block of wood by dancing before a motley crew of weirdos. And it goes on.

Anthology films are by nature a mixed bag but this one is very even in term of quality. None of the segments are terrible or even just bad. Some are better but the worst is still very good. Each director brings their own style to their segment. Some are spooky, some are funny and some are just plain weird. Of particular note is the very strange first segment by director Akio Jissoji, one of his last directorial jobs. The beautiful animated seventh dream by Final Fantasy designer Yoshitaka Amano and the final darkly comic dream by cult director Yudai Yamaguchi are standouts as well although other segments are noteworthy in their own ways.

One of the best anthology films I've seen recently. If you are looking for a storyline go elsewhere but for a rewarding walk in dreamtime this is an excellent choice. Recommended.