"Are there no godsno Buddha? If you exist hear me...Is it such fun to see men weep?"

Rating: 10/10 (30 March 2011)

A truly thought provoking bit of dialogue from one of Akira Kuorsawa's best works, a true masterpiece in the world of film. The film is so visually stunning one may completely forsake the meanings behind those images or worse walk away from the film confused. In response to that, another character remarks, "It is the gods who weep. They see us killing each otherover and over since time began. They can't save us from ourselves." To me this may quite possibly be Kurosawa's greatest achievement among many.
Firstly, and rightly so, is the sheer greatness of the acting in this movie. I could go on about the greatness of each actor's performance, seeing as every performance stands out so well; no character is over shadowed or unforgettable. Instead I'll focus on the gorgeous story treatment and this film's themes. As I'm sure anybody who's reading this review knows, the story is an adaptation of Shakespeare's "King Lear." Kurosawa uses Japanese history very well so, portraying quite faultlessly a warlord ruled Japan. This film, due to it being his most big budget production, has quite an epic feel to it as well. A vast landscape shot accompanied by the awesome cinematography creates a beautiful and majestic aura to the atmosphere as a whole. And the costume design is done artistically, very worthy of the award it won.
Despite all that beauty, anyone who truly understands the film will realize it is easily Kurosawa's most nihilistic-toned film. The score itself is dark, brooding, stomach churning and never uplifts onto a joyous melody. The whole underlying theme in itself is the near pointlessness of our existence in this world. How man is naturally power hungry and lusts almost always for only their desires, no matter what they may be. Regardless of whom must one must hurt or toss aside to attain it, we will do it, for better or for most cases, worst. We naturally do this, and are more than willing to shed blood and commit betrayal to have what we want. There's a classic sense of Shakespeare tragic irony at work here, about how loyalty can be misplaced, and before we can even have a chance to make up for it the world can take away our redemption. After all his losses, including his power and sanity, all Hidetora wanted was forgiveness, and yet the opportunity was forever lost in death. His other two sons are easily seduced by the promise of power and intimacy but both also end up a victim of their own vile ways. And yet, it is not God's duty to punish the wicked, nor to praise the righteous. This seen many times in this movie, but is brought out to the fullest when the gruesome death of lady Keade comes to light. This character had lost her whole family at the hands of a war for power long ago, and lost everything but her own scarred brother. She coped, as she said to Hidetora in a great scene, by way of prayer to Buddha, a holy deity. Religion is her savior, but no amount of devotion saved her in the end. The same goes for her brother who sits atop the ruins of his childhood home, but has no idea his sister isn't returning. An image of Buddha she gave to him falls down below amongst the rocks, neither worsening nor benefiting his predicament. Man is alone to deal with his own self-constructed problems.
"Don't cry. Its how the world is made. Men prefer sorrow over joy, suffering over peace."