masterly!

Rating: Null/10 (10 February 2004)

SPOILERS MAY BE CONTAINED HEREIN!
Akira Kurosawa's adaptation of King Lear is considered by some to be among his best works. If so, justifiably. The film is quite a masterpiece.

The Lord Hidetora decides to abdicate his throne to his three sons in an inexplicable act of vanity/ silliness/ big-heartedness. This against the better counsel of his son Saburo whom he banishes for his honesty. Following this action, we watch in mute horror as the once tightly held kingdom falls into pieces as the three sons vie for ultimate power, with some neighbouring powers and even one of the wives thrown in for good measure. What ensues is a masterpiece of dry ironic tragedy. We watch the erstwhile Lord slowly but surely loose his powers of reason, eaten away by guilt, fear and shattered pride, while everyone else one dies at the altar of war and the greed for power. We can't help but be drawn into the web that Kurosawa ensnares for us, can't help feeling sorrow and occasional amusement as human beings reveal their endless frailties.
Through all this, Kurosawa's technique is simple yet profound. The music, except in the battle scenes, is stark and has a natural feel to it that compliments the 16th century Japanese countryside where the film is set. He uses the strong characterisations and gestures that come hand in glove with the Samurai ethos to telling effect. Every scene is infested with Samurai grandeur. His style of filmmaking perhaps is closer to European film-making as he gives up speedy cuts for longer mid-shots in which fierce dramatic interactions can play themselves out. As such, his style is almost theatrical. Even the battle scenes are interestingly played out: one scene has no battle sounds, the other has them in full glory. Here Kurosawa seems to be toying with our cinematic notions of battle scenes. The performances are uniformly good, with the actress playing Lady Kaede, standing out, for me at least.
All in all, as a version of King Lear, Ran works because Kurosawa is not awed by his source material but freely adapts it to suit his own ethos and cinematic vision. In that sense I'd rather see it as a stand alone film with an original screenplay co-written by Kurosawa and none other than the great bard himself. A film which stands on its own. And should be seen finally as belonging to one Akira Kurosawa.