Kurosawa's Final Masterpiece Is A Godsend

Rating: 10/10 (24 December 2007)

There it was. My second viewing of Ran, and the one which made me acknowledge just how much of an auteur Akira Kurosawa was. I have seen numerous films from the director and literally all of them are essential viewing, yet one of those particular essentials is undoubtedly the director's concluding, 1985 epic. Set on the foundations of William Shakespeare's King Lear and produced on a remarkably large by Japanese standards at the time- $12 million budget, Ran draws corresponding angles between ancient Japanese history and the classic literacy theme of tyranny.
Kurosawa's inspiration for the picture is as follows; "when I read that three arrows together are invincible, that's not true. I started doubting, and that's when I started thinking: the house was prosperous and the sons were courageous. What if this fascinating man had bad sons?" Those words describe the general premise of Ran, not just the beginning idea, but the focal-point. Also, the King Lear insight was something which fascinated Kurosawa, as he had always wanted to create a past for the characters in his version of the tale (something he similarly did with Throne of Blood).
Beginning with an extended scene set against the expansive and luscious background of Mount Aso -during the historic period of Feudal Japan- and ending in full-scale war. This contrast depicts how easily broken a "peace" can be, and the escalating tension slowly builds until the land's ageing Great Lord flees his own land to avoid his children's bitter quarrelling. Almost all the characters in the film are after some sort of power; the Lord recognises the yearning his own family have to take the land from him and expresses his disgust towards their selfishness, gluttony, deceptiveness and disrespectful nature. Yet the youngest son observes the evil taking place and attempts to rescue his father from the wrath of his deceitful brothers. Keep in mind; this is based on a Shakespearian tale, so tragedy is always inevitable.
Ever since its release, Ran has garnered practically 100% unanimous praise and is often denounced as a modern masterpiece, along with the previous and far less polished work, Kagemusha (Kurosawa called it "a dress rehearsal for Ran"). There is something about the to-be classic which for me personally- offers more satisfaction than any other picture by the Japanese auteur. Many would argue that the film is not as entertaining as Kurosawa's '50s and '60s outings, such as Yojimbo and Seven Samurai, but I would disagree, as much as I adore such classics. In retrospect, nearly every finished Kurosawa product was and continues to remain a great film, if not a masterpiece. Only a collected minority of directors have ever held such unmatched stability.
The symbolic use of individually coloured clothing accentuates the emotions of each character; primary colours, yellow, red, blue and white are worn by the principal characters at the start of the piece. Heavy weight is pressed on conveying four predominant and reoccurring themes; turmoil, age, nihilism and warfare. The violence obviously existed throughout the Lord's reign, as an increased inner thirst (predominantly from his children) for control had been looming over the elderly Lord each day he grew older. Kurosawa is said to of intentionally made the chaos displayed a metaphor for an apocalypse of modern nuclear warfare. Well, it sure works.
More than anything else, Kurosawa proved his ability to craft films which were in touch with contemporary cinema, but still included all the elements which develop a classic. Without hesitation I would cite Ran as the film which employs the finest use of long-shot cinematography. This is a mere sampling of my feelings towards the technicalities, let alone the film as a whole. Eruptions of unqualified chaos have never been so intoxicating.