Reflection Paper

THE VILLAGE OF THE WATERMILSS: REFLECTION PAPER
Akira Kurosawa describes the Village of the Watermills as his idealized picture of a
peaceful, sustainable planet. This is the last of Kurosawa's eight short films in the "Dreams"
collection. All eight of Kurosawa's films are based on real nightmares he had throughout his life.
The audience is given hope for the future by the final dream, which seems to have a happy
ending. It presents a striking contrast between village existences that is deemed ancient and
being satisfied by making the most of what nature has to offer and also the technologically
driven life that has a stronghold on most people today. In the midst of a time where technology
dominates every aspect of life for everyone and everything, a traveler comes upon a village
where people live simply and depend entirely on nature for their daily needs. The entire scenario
focuses on how nature gave rise to what the locals refer to as "The Village." It is a location
outside of time and not from the past.
The movie is all about praising nature and life, and it includes a strong critique of science
and technology as the root of pollution and human suffering. It is not the technology itself, but
rather what Humanity does with it, therefore in the end, this is a movie about the spirit of man
and his capacity to simultaneously build and destroy. The Village of the Watermills appears to be
a representation of how you should ideally feel when you are in a meditative state: serene,
tranquil, and free from the intrusion of the outer world. a space that represents your inner self
once the clutter, noise, and nonsense of the modern world have been thrown out. This space
exists just for itself. It illustrates what life would be like if people sought out harmony with
nature, peace, and the actual meaning of life rather than material wealth and luxuries.
A quote from the movie that addressed the overall context of the world we live in was
"People nowadays have forgotten they're just a part of nature". We take everything for granted,
deplete resources like there's no tomorrow, engage in practices that harm our only habitat and
take everything for granted. The movie helped the audience understand that technology
sometimes can be a permanent illusion. The technologies that are promised to make life simpler
and more convenient are also the ones that leave us unsatisfied, and prompt us to desire more.
We create technology that is separated from nature but centered on people.
We believe that convenience is preferable. That living in a fast-paced world is better

because it allows us to make more money. That is the problem of the majority of people in the
world: they seek and collect money as if it is more than just a piece of paper and gives them
pleasure, but it is not, and it does not. We blindly follow what society dictates, even if the
standard of living does not make us happy and does not allow us to live in peace and harmony.
We frequently believe that we control technology. Not only because we humans invented
and produced it, but also because we use it. Technology has changed our way of thinking. Nature
is converted into a resource that must be processed, and humans are converted into human
resources. If you will understand the movie in a logical perspective it will provide you with ideas
that technology has greatly aided us, but it has also imprisoned us.
The film comes to the conclusion with a celebration of the life of a villager. This manner
of commemorating the life of a woman who died at the age of 99 is rarely, if ever, seen in
modern culture. Death is rarely celebrated because it is commonly regarded as a day of anguish
and mourning, but the villagers have accepted the nature of life, that it is transitory and that we
will live lives other than our current ones. Perhaps the secret beyond the mystery of life is to be
one with nature, to accept nature as a part of ourselves. In this way, we can enjoy life and live a
happy life at the age of a hundred.

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THE VILLAGE OF THE WATERMILSS: REFLECTION PAPER

We believe that convenience is preferable. That living in a fast-paced world is better

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