In 16th century Japan, as a civil war rages on, a potter dreams of fortunes while his neighbor dreams of becoming a samurai. This is regarded as one of the great achievements in Japanese cinema, but pales in comparison to Ozu's "Tokyo Story," released the same year. The cinematography is good. The script is simplistic in its message, but the story meanders and veers towards melodrama. The subplot dealing with ghosts and delusions has the potential to be something compelling, but the execution leaves much to be desired. A little subtlety would have been welcome. The acting is uneven, often tending towards the theatrical, as in the films of Kurosawa.
