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Ran
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by Fox Lorber
Sales Rank: 20364
Price: $24.98
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As critic Roger Ebert observed in his original review of <I>Ran</I>, this epic tragedy might have been attempted by a younger director, but only the Japanese master Akira Kurosawa, who made the film at age 75, could bring the requisite experience and maturity to this stunning interpretation of Shakespeare's <I>King Lear</I>. It's a film for the ages--one of the few genuine screen masterpieces--and arguably serves as an artistic summation of the great director's career. In this version of the Shakespeare tragedy, the king is a 16th-century warlord (Tatsuya Nakadai as Lord Hidetora) who decides to retire and divide his kingdom evenly among his three sons. When one son defiantly objects out of loyalty to his father and warns of inevitable sibling rivalry, he is banished and the kingdom is awarded to his compliant siblings. The loyal son's fears are valid: a duplicitous power struggle ensues and the aging warlord witnesses a maelstrom of horrifying death and destruction. Although the film is slow to establish its story, it's clear that Kurosawa, who planned and painstakingly designed the production for 10 years before filming began, was charting a meticulous and tightly formalized dramatic strategy. As familial tensions rise and betrayal sends Lord Hidetora into the throes of escalating madness, <I>Ran</I> (the title is the Japanese character for "chaos" or "rebellion") reaches a fever pitch through epic battles and a fortress assault that is simply one of the most amazing sequences on film. Although this awesome epic is best viewed on a big theatrical screen, the DVD presents the widescreen film with a higher quality of image and sound than was ever previously available in any home-video format. <I>--Jeff Shannon</I>
Viewer Reviews
I enjoyed watching ran. it was quite different than most American films in a lot of ways. it had an unique combination of humor and drama. I particularly liked the large battle scenes. i think a lot of the epic battle scenes in movies that i like now were heavily influenced by this film. this film has an interesting mix of both American and foreign film styles. The influence of Japanese Noh theater is clearly strong. While some American audiences might be put off by some aspects of the film, i still think it reaches a wide, diverse audience nonetheless.
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Ran
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