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Ran (1985)

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2 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Kurosawa established himself as the best cinematic interpreter of Shakespeare with his recasting of Macbeth as a samurai warlord in Throne of Blood. That he should in his later years turn to King Lear is appropriate, and the results are all that one could possibly dream of. Ran proposes a great warlord (Nakadai), in a less than serene old age, dividing his kingdoms up between his three sons. True to the original, the one he dispossesses is the only one faithful to him, and ran (chaos) ensues as the two elder sons battle for power, egged on by the Lady Kaede (an incendiary performance from Mieko Harada). The shift and sway of a nation divided is vast, the chaos terrible, the battle scenes the most ghastly ever filmed, and the outcome is even bleaker than Shakespeare's. Indeed the only note of optimism resides in the nobility of the film itself: a huge, tormented canvas, in which Kurosawa even contrives to command the elements to obey his vision. A Lear for our age, and for all time. CPea.

Author: CPea

Time Out Film Guide

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User reviews of this film

Ray said...

Posted on Nov 29 2010 15:14 Truly wonderful, in an age where superlatives are overused, this earns all the plaudits. The Director successfully manages to use his camera as a conduit, and is one of the few that can manipulate us without close up. In any other hands you'd feel cheated that you're not getting to see the expressions on the faces of some of main actors, but with this director you know its part of the metaphor, we are close together and yet cannot tell what the other one is thinking. Why oh why don't more directors appreciate the finer arts of filmmaking?

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MC said...

Posted on Sep 11 2008 17:40 A magnificient film. Visually stunning and worthy of all the critical acclaim.

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