"Ran" is pure cinematic poetry ...

Rating: 10/10 (30 December 2010)

"Ran", how such a short, such a light, almost feeble word can be so poetic, so colorful, so tragic, so meaningful ... and so cinematographically beautiful ...
"Ran", what can you say about "Ran"? First of all, the movie strikes by its stunning visuals, the use of colors and the beautiful landscape shots ... this was one aspect of Kurosawa that obviously couldn't emerge from his earlier works, and I was so used to watch epics in Technicolor, that I wasn't very impressed in the beginning. BUT Kurosawa is so talented, what am I saying, such a genius, that even the use of colors serves as a clever plot device, it's not just to make the movie look better, but also to give you a clearer view of the battles, and the need of colors to distinguish between the armies highlights the central element and most tragic element of the plot, which is that these blood bathed battles are internal, it's between brothers, it's between the sons of a man, who sees all his hopes and dreams annihilated, who witnesses the failure of a whole life, which makes the massacres more and more sickening and heart-breaking especially because it all ends up in the same dominant color in the end.
The movie is not just a cinematographic achievement, it's a movie about the power that ultimately corrupts people's souls, a movie showing that greed, for lack of a better word, is bad and leads to destruction and ultimately, self-destruction. The movie is guilty of preaching but not during the preaching scenes, it tells you not to trust those who say they love you or those who throw flowers in your path. Indeed, people who wants the best of you won't feel the need to appear sympathetic in front of you ... unfortunately, power not only corrupts but it also blinds and drowns in the ocean of greed, your intelligence, that can only survive on the boat of humility ... the same humility the Father lacked in the beginning, before realizing when it was too late, how wrong, wrong and wrong he was. Epic Tragedy!
Just like "The Godfather", "Ran" is about the eternal Shakespearian theme of power and succession, but whether the succession in Coppola's crime epic was successful, in "Ran", it was a tragic and bloody failure ... how can greed be so destructive? no movie could have illustrated this with such intensity than Kurosawa's masterpiece. And yet, the movie strikes for its beauty, its poetry, and its universality, the king of yesterday can be as worthless as a bum the very next day, your own blood can betray you, to satisfy a pitiful feeling of jealousy, and a thirst of revenge and power. And sooner or later, you pay for your sins. In fact, life is so vicious, that it gives you the chance to satisfy your darkest schemes just to lead you faster to self-destruction ... life as the seemingly indifferent Gods mentioned in the film, are they? regarding indifference and lack of love and empathy, isn't the film inviting us to question ourselves "well, aren't we, too?"
"Ran" means 'Revolt'. Well, it sure inspired me one feeling of revolt ... towards the Academy, the Master has been snubbed so many times, for "Rashomon", "Seven Samurai" and "Ikiru" ... I couldn't believe "Ran" won only one Oscar and ... for costume design, but time speaks for "Ran" now, and the movie is rightfully recognized as one of the greatest cinematic epics and directorial achievements. The movie redefined epic like "The Godfather" did for Gangster movies, it gave it a new poetic and tragicomic dimension freed from any dull Manichaeism and other clichés, and to use another cinematic comparison, if "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" makes "Ben-Hur" look like an epic then "Ran" makes any modern epic look like "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" ... For one simple reason that doesn't take a long philosophical analysis : "Ran" is entertaining as hell, there isn't a single dull, boring or sappy moment, forget the battles scenes, even the dialog, the shots on the clouds, the character development are insightful and masterfully directed ...
"Ran", Kurosawa's masterpiece (I feel like writing a pleonasm) is pure cinematic poetry ... my Respects, Master Kurosawa!