this is not particularly my type of film. i prefer entire stories to vignettes. that said i would comment that most of these 'dreams' would serve as a very strong presence in a larger film. in their own right they are compelling. what comes out strongly in these episodes is an aspect of Japanese culture that westerners are liable to cringe from, laugh at, or just not get at all. i am certainly in that category as i can look at Japanese culture, and as much as i love Japanese cinema, scoff at the ant-like antics. what kind of people are these, i ask? where is there independence? individuality? of course, this line of questioning misses the point that Japanese culture has a strong flavor of social cohesion that we in the west are taken aback by. my point here is that in some of these 'dreams' kurosawa captures this ritualistic social effort with telling beauty. it is impossible not to be quite taken with the fox's wedding procession, the platoon of the dead, and the funeral march. wonderful scenes whether we quite grasp their significance or not. if you like busby berkeley then you should see this film; it offers busby taken to a much higher level.
