Ran

Starring: Mieko Harada, Tatsuya Nakadai Director: Akira Kurosawa Original UK Premiere: 1985 Dvd Release: 3rd May, 2004 Number Of Discs: 2 Format: PAL, Region 2 Encoding

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Ran is a film by Akira Kurosawa, based on William Shakespeare s King Lear but set in Sengoku -era Japan. In the film, the character of King Lear is replaced with Ichimonji Hidetora, the Great Lord, an aging warlord. Taro, Jiro & Saburo. Hidetora decides to give control of his kingdom up to Taro, the eldest son, while Jiro & Saburo will be given the Second & First Castles. Jiro & Saburo are to support Taro. However, Saburo criticizes Hidetoras plan, claiming that he is a fool to think they will be able to get along peacefully. Tango, one of Hidetoras servants, comes to Saburos defense. Hidetora banishes both of them. In the end, Hidetora is alienated from his sons & he is forced to live alone with Tango & Kyoami, the fool. Jiro conquers Taro & is then himself conquered by a rival warlord who has alligned himself with Saburo. In the end, Hidetora is reunited with Saburo, but Saburo is killed by a stray bullet & Hidetora dies of grief. The film also involves many intricate subplots involving betrayal & violence within families & highlighting the vanity & falseness of courtly life.

Being a French-Japanese cooperation the film suffers from a certain lack of consistency, you are going from one scene to the next sort of thinking 'hmmmm what's all this about'. There's a female 'bad charachter' with semi-comical plot & dialog which does not help the overcomplicated story of the film. There's also a transvestile character 'the entertainer' who quite literally killed the film for me personally. No, not because of his sexuality but because of poor acting. That character is totally unnecessary & does not belong in the film. It just seems as if after the hugely successful & all-male Kagemusha, 'Europe' decided to introduce a gender-balance into the Samurai genre killing the film in the process.

I do not want to be too harsh on Kurasawa as he's probably my most favourite director of all time. Despite a poor story, dialog & plot...Kurasawa still shines with his trade-mark stunning imagery If you are left to choose between any Hollywood production & Ran don't even think, rent it, buy it. But I were to compare Ran to Kurasawa'a earlier works it is nowhere near Kagemusha, Throne of blood, Rashomon, Seven Samrai etc. Ran borrows heavily from the Throne of blood but that does not help the poor end result. Overall it is way above any Hollywood film but a pretty average film by japanese standards.

Akira Kurosawa was a prominent Japanese director, producer & screenwriter of movies. To Western audiences, Kurosawa is perhaps Japans best-known filmmaker. His films have greatly influenced a whole generation of filmmakers worldwide. His first film was released in 1943 ; his last in 1999. During his lifetime he saw Japan change from an undeveloped country with military ambitions to a peaceful economic power. Few filmmakers have had a career so long or so acclaimed. Kurosawa was born March 23, 1910, in Omori, Tokyo the youngest of seven children .He trained as a painter & began work in the film industry as an assistant director in 1936. He made his directorial debut in 1943 with Sugata Sanshiro. He became internationally famous with his 1950 film Rashomon which won the Grand Prix at the Venice Film Festival. Although he is most remembered for his films of the 1950s & 1960s, he continued to direct & write films until his death. Kurosawa is most well-known for his period pieces like Seven Samurai & Ran but many of his films dealt with contemporary Japan. Posters Of Kagemusha

Editors Choice: Rhapsody In August, Ran, Kagemusha, Red Beard, Sanjuro, Yojimbo, Hidden Fortress, Throne Of Blood, View DVDology

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