A Masterwork By A Master Artist

Rating: 10/10 (10 June 2007)

Born in 1910 Japan, Akira Kurosawa first studied painting before moving into film in the late 1930s. A well-known director in Japan throughout the 1940s, his 1950 production of RASHOMON launched him to international acclaim--and throughout the remainder of his long career he was widely acknowledged as among the world's greatest film directors, the creator of such films as THE SEVEN SAMURAI, THRONE OF BLOOD, and YOJIMBO. Released in 1985, RAN would be among his final films and is generally felt to be among his finest.
Kurosawa often borrowed plot lines from Western literature, and with RAN--the Japanese word translates loosely as chaos--he lifted the basic story from William Shakespeare's KING LEAR. In Kurosawa's retelling, the Lord Hidetora Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai) divides his kingdom between three sons: Taro (Akira Terao), Jiro (Jinpachi Nezu) and Saburo (Daisuke Ryu). When youngest son Saburo upbraids his father for foolishness, Hidetora banishes him--only to find Taro and Jiro turning against him just as Saburo predicted. Kurosawa shapes the Shakespearean story to 16th Century Japan, so it would be easy to belabor comparison with the original; at the same time, however, it is worth pointing out that he actually captures the story more effectively than any western filmmaker has to date.
As in many Kurosawa films, RAN alternates moments of great stillness with rapacious action, enclosed spaces with wide vistas. In stillness, the film focuses upon its actors and their intrigues--perhaps most notably the perfidious Lady Kaede, a truly dark character frighteningly realized by actress Mieko Harada. Indeed, all the cast is remarkably fine. But the great centerpiece, and the great performance, of the film is Tatsuya Nakadai's Lord Hidetora, whose mixture of good intention and folly leads first to humiliation and then to madness. Perhaps the single most stunning moment of the film occurs when Hidetora, betrayed by his sons, walks down the tower steps of the third castle following a vicious battle. It is difficult to imagine many actors who could perform such a scene; it is equally difficult to imagine many directors who could stage it.
Few directors are able to convey the sense of chaos, destruction, and fear with which Kurosawa endows battle scenes, and RAN is no exception. There are several, and the battle of the third castle (in which Hidetora is bested by sons Taro and Jiro) is easily among the finest battle sequences of Kurosawa's career. Presented without any sound except a simple, eloquent music score, flash-cutting between different groups in the struggle, the result is a unique mixture of beauty and horror--and in my opinion unequaled by any other film I've seen.
It should be noted that RAN, unlike RASHOMON, THRONE OF BLOOD, YOJIMBO and many other Kurosawa films, is in color. I have long been used to the remarkable shading of Kurosawa's black and white films, and I missed it--but only for a moment. Kurosawa proves no less adept in color than in black and white, and RAN's use of color is remarkable. For this reason I particularly recommend the Criterion Collection edition of the film over any other; it is very fine. But regardless of the particular version, this is a film which must be seen by any one who appreciates Asian or world cinema, truly a masterwork by a great master.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer