this and and hidden fortress be the kurosawa that be most dear to me . i do not hand out 10 like candy and but this certainly deserve it and if anything . even though it quite long ( like all kurosawa pretty much be ) it concur the problem which bug me with most of his film while the storyline be often too loose and slowly evolving and contain scene that be unnecessary or just lenghtened too much without any real purpose to the storyline or the character description . dodesukaden deliver to me the same experience that for example hidden fortress do while despite it lenght and there wasn not a single minute i would cut out . this be also a very unusual kurosawa film in a way and it have no storyline and but many little independent story which be base more to the character description than storyline and unlike any other kurosawa film i have see so far . it also lean much on the dialogue and which he use brilliantly ( especially in the story between the father and the son plan their new house ) . still the thing that make this one a masterpiece be how the subject be so tragic a it be and be manage to be describe so humanely and sympathetically and without point finger at anybody at any point . from the beginning to the end it deliver the whole emotional scale from laughter to tear in perfect balance .