Shakespeare, Kurosawa - a classic spectacle

Rating: 10/10 (23 May 2012)

In Ran, one of Akira Kurosawa's last pictures, the legendary director once again returns to themes he has dealt with before in such impressive pictures as "Throne of Blood" or "Yojimbo", and these are: power struggle, arrogance, selfishness, greed, betrayal, suspicion, revenge, blackmail, battle upon battle, madness, death and tragedy. To sum it all up means to spell the title of this epic: "Ran", which stands for "Chaos", and this is exactly what you can expect when things get out of hand in a once thriving land. The film is a loose rendition of Shakespeare's "King Lear" and begins with what an old warlord thinks to be a good idea: to abdicate and make room for younger blood. But his three sons have their own agendas and soon clash to decide upon the right of succession until everything that reminds of the once glory days is irretrievably gone.
"Ran" lasts nearly three hours, has beautifully choreographed battle scenes, sharp dialog and is packed with lots of strong main characters: aspiring and falling warlords, conniving wives, a faithful, wise jester, a symbolic blind man on the edge of a cliff, to name just a few... Unlike the mentioned Samurai movies, "Ran" was shot beautifully in color and features hundreds of extras, making the film one of Kurosawa's most visually stunning movies. If you like it monumental, you can't get past this one.