Nigh-perfection

Rating: 10/10 (21 February 2001)

I have always been a lover of Japanese cinema but it rarely went beyond anything frivolous like GODZILLA or certain Anime (Princess Mononoke is not frivolous). But in August, 2000, I awoke early in the morning. Armed with a bowl of cereal and a newspaper, I looked over the showtimes to see which theatres were showing "Godzilla 2000". Something else caught my eye, though. It was a tiny little box with the words "Akira Kurosawa's RAN, 15th anniversary". I had heard the name "Kurosawa" before and as a filmmaker to-be, I was very interested. But I had never seen any of his films.
Well, to cut a long story short, I was sitting in the Egyptian theatre with my father during the evening the next day. And it was brilliant. It had humor, it had drama, it had heart-wrenchingly detailed and exceedingly horrifying scenes of epic violence. This is truly the work of a genius, and when one takes into consideration that the widower Kurosawa was almost blind and 75 when he made RAN we cannot help but bow down to the mighty power of Japan's premier filmmaker.
The story of King Lear set into Feudal Japanese times, RAN takes a leap in all terms. It has three-dimensional characters, unpredictable plot twists, highly meticulous scene setups and brilliant dialogue. For fear of giving anything away, I won't say much more. Just watch this movie if you get a chance. You'll not regret it.