Ran (1985) November 14, 2010
Posted by Cal in : War, 1980s films, Jidaigeki , trackbackDirector: Akira Kurosawa Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai; Akira Terao; Jinpachi Nezu; Daisuke Ryu; Meiko Harada Territory: Japan
Ran is the tale of an old warlord who attempts to cede his empire to his three sons. After preaching the power of unity, the leader of the Ichimonji house learns that his sons have no interest in sharing power, and chaos ensues. As the sons vie for power, the warlord finds the only refuge may be with the one son that saw the folly of his plan, only to be disowned and exiled.
This was the first Kurosawa film I watched, but I have to admit I couldn’t really remember much about it. Looking at it now, after a barrage of his earlier works, it’s obvious that his style had changed quite a lot since his classic black-and-white period. One has got used to seeing his trademark transition wipes and dramatic use of weather. Still, it’s no use crying over spilled milk and besides, gratuitous inclusion of such devices may have seemed clichéd and contrived anyway.
So anyway, about the film itself. Ran is often described as Kurosawa’s last major work, an accolade (or criticism) that I’ve never fully understood until now. Although I’ve not yet watched his three final films that followed Ran (stick around here long enough, though, and they’re bound to show up sooner or later), I can easily see the scale of the production is pretty massive. Apparently in the pipeline since before Kagemusha was even conceived, Ran is similar in style to his earlier film but trumps it on every level.
Although the film does take time to truly get underway and find a groove, the pacing of the story is excellent. This was to be Kurosawa’s third and final screenplay based around a Shakespeare work – King Lear this time – and again hits gold. The central characters are Hidetora (Tatsuya Nakadai) as the elderly warlord and his three sons Taro (Akira Terao), Jiro (Jinpachi Nezu), and Saburo (Daisuke Ryu). But it is the characters in the periphery that bring the film to life, such as Kurogane (Jiro’s right hand man, and not a man to follow orders blindly), Kyoami (the lord’s entertainer and closest ally) and of course Kaede (Taro’s wife, and surely a contender for the ultimate screen bitch). Kaede sows discontent with the otherwise satisfied Taro in a move similar to Washizu’s wife Asaji in Throne of Blood, and she can be seen to be an extension of that character. Many scenes including her genuinely make you shiver with revulsion.
The one moment that stands out in Ran is the scene where Hidetora walks defeated from a huge burning castle – which is done for real. Much as I hate to say things like “you couldn’t do that these days” and “oh, that’s so much better than a modern CGI shot”, the fact is that you couldn’t do that these days and it is better than a modern CGI shot. Although Kurosawa’s eyesight was failing, Ran is visually stunning to the point of being a work of art in itself – often without drawing attention to itself in a look-how-clever-this-shot-is kind of way. However, there’s no escaping the fact that Ran underperformed at the box office in Kurosawa’s country and presumably put the kibosh on any plans the great director might have had to make a similar spectacle in the future. However, thinking about it another way, it’s surprising that such a film as Ran exists at all. To that, we should simply give thanks.
The new region A & B Blu-ray from Optimum Releasing is a huge disappointment. The transfer is passable but unimpressive, but the truly unforgivable thing is that the 71-minute making of feature that was available on Optimum’s own DVD is nowhere to be found. In fact, there are no extras whatsoever on the disc. So I’ll be hanging on to my DVD for now.
Screenshot from a standard definition source.
Comments»
This is easily one of my favorite films from the 1980s (all countries). Lady Kaede is one of my favorite female villians. I’m a fan of King Lear (have you read it or seen it performed) and I love this adaptation.
I don’t think Tatsuya Nakadai gets enough credit for his performances, though I think that has been changing of late (or at least with the people I write/talk to).
Of the next three films I think you will like them, but they are quite different in tone and texture. Dreams is several shorts (some being more effective than others), Rhapsody in August is quite good and is interesting to see Richard Gere in a toned down performance. Madadyo is a film I liked very much and despite its title is his last film
. But it is a fitting last film (we will discuss when you get to it) Dreams I think you will like the least (one of the few that I do not want to rewatch), but several themes in the film have been present in his earlier works.
I’m not too familiar with Shakespeare, actually, although I may be going to see Hamlet soon. I’ve heard varying repaorts on Dreams, but it does tend to get a bit of a lukewarm reaction. Interestingly, it is the only Kurosawa film available online for rental on XBox Live. Weird! I think I may have a break from Kurosawa now - I watched The Lower Depths the other night and although I liked the film quite a bit I don’t feel able to write anything about it at the moment. Thanks for your notes on the final three films, though. I will get around to them someday if I don’t watch them soon!
It is usually best not to overdue directors (especially auteurs) in a short period of time. I did this with Hitchcock and got burnt out of the “wrong man” theme
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I liked The Lower Depths even more than Jean Renoir’s version which if you have the Criterion is the other film on the set (I wrote this just in case you do not or someone else is wanting to get that film(s)).
I don’t have the Renoir version, sadly. Yes, I’m officially burnt out with Kurosawa, and with so many films left to see! Never mind, I will definitely have another Kurosawa season before too long. I’ve just ordered a box set of Jean-Pierre Melville films, so I’ve got something to keep me quiet for a bit until I get my appetite back for HK action films!
I have a few rules for myself which I think help out on this issue. I try to never watch a director twice in a row, or a genre or anything similar. Of course I found even following this rule sometimes help enough. When I watched several Hitchcocks once a week I was still getting a bit burnt out of them. I’ve been pretty good with Johnnie To though and John Ford both this year which I have now seen over 30 films from each of them. I think 2 weeks a minimum is a good rules, unless the film is known to suck (or an atypical feature) then you can squeeze this in anytime
.
Sometimes juggling them is a bit difficult. Especially when you want to write an essay on a director or related material. You want to not have too much time elapse.
Looking forward to which Melville films you will watch. I have a couple that I have not seen yet so I think I will try to fit them in (hopefully before you do
).
Have you watched any Jean Renoir films yet?