Ran Movie Review Film Summary 1. Akira Kurosawas Ran is inspired by King Lear, but may be as much about Kurosawas life as Shakespeares play. Seeing it again in a fine new 3. I realized the action doesnt center on the old man, but has a fearful energy of its own, through which he wanders. Kurosawa has not told the story of a great man whose sin of pride drives him mad, but the story of a man who has waged war all his life, hopes to impose peace in his old age and unleashes even greater turmoil. There are parallels not only with kings but also with filmmakers, who like royalty must enforce their vision in a world seething with jealousy, finance, intrigue, vanity and greed. Advertisement. Today we include Kurosawa 1. He was master of his destiny for only 1. Rashomon to 1. 96. Red Beard, and in that span he made the masterpieces The Seven Samurai, The Throne of Blood, Ikiru, The Hidden Fortress, High and Low and the twin samurai films Yojimbo and Sanjuro, among others. Then his times grew hard. Condemned as too Western and old fashioned in Japan, he begged for his budgets. His Dodeska den 1. Dickensian view of life among the poor in Tokyo, was rejected by Japanese audiences. Sanjuro Full Movie Part 1' title='Sanjuro Full Movie Part 1' />Another five years passed before he found Russian financing for Dersu Uzala, the story of a Mongolian woodsman who guides a Russian explorer it won the Oscar for best foreign film, but was a failure at the box office. In 1. 97. 5 he announced he wanted to make a samurai epic based on King Lear, but could find no financing. In 1. 98. 0 he made the magnificent medieval epic Kagemusha as a rehearsal for the big film although it was a success, there was still no money for Ran. He filled notebooks with drawings of locations and costumes, and storyboards of scenes. Finally he found an angel in the maverick French producer Serge Silberman, who had backed outsiders such as Luis Bunuel and now found the funds for Ran. Kurosawa had directed 1. Ran was only his fourth in the next 2. I recount this history because I think there is much of Kurosawa in Ran, made when he was 7. He was preoccupied with mortality in his later years. Yojimbo provides examples of the following tropes Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Quite a few of these. This is one reason this movie stands the test of time so well. Sanjuro Full Movie Part 1' title='Sanjuro Full Movie Part 1' />His eyesight was failing, he attempted suicide, and although he announced Ran would be his last film, he returned to end thoughts in Dreams 1. Madadayo 1. 99. Not yet and refers to the old mans defiant annual affirmation that he is still not dead. Advertisement. Now look at Ran its title means chaos. There is much from King Lear in it, including an old king who unwisely divides his kingdom into three parts among sons, not daughters. The Tomatometer rating based on the published opinions of hundreds of film and television critics is a trusted measurement of movie and TV. Greatest Movie Performances of All Time by Premiere Magazine part 1, by reverse ranking. The Tomatometer rating based on the published opinions of hundreds of film and television critics is a trusted measurement of movie and TV programming quality. Images and sounds of the characters Steve Blum has played in voice over roles in cartoons, TV, movies, video games and more. There is a fool to keep him company, and a loyal follower to shadow and protect him there is exile after his sons claim their fathers troops overtax their hospitality he jumps from a cliff that turns out to be a small rise in the ground he descends into senility but has a flash of insight and is able to apologize to one he has wronged. Certainly the image of the crazed old man, cut loose from authority and lost in the wilderness, will remind audiences of Lear. And yet, as the critic Stanley Kauffmann has pointed out, the movie is at least as much about war as about an old mans pride and decay. Lear is driven mad because he does not love the daughter who loves him, and sees his folly when his other daughters betray him. Hidetora, the hero of Ran, is driven mad, says Kauffmann, because of the wars between his sons The change is from the spiritual to the physical. Lear was personal, Kauffmann says, but Ran is gigantically catastrophic. King Lear has the old man at its center. Watch The Sounds Of Aus Online Facebook. In Ran we sometimes get the impression that life is hurtling past Hidetoro Tatsuya Nakadai, who wanders from one tragedy to another, pushing in from the margins, bewildered. We learn from Hidetora in an early scene that he spent his life waging war, until finally he controlled all that he saw. Now he divides his three castles among his three sons, thinking this will bring peace to the land. His youngest son, who loves him most, tells him this will never work. Hidetora banishes him he marries into the family of a powerful warlord, as Cordelia married the king of France. Then wars consume the land, as the other two sons battle for control. As Hidetora stumbles through this landscape, accompanied by his Fool, his sons and their warriors are more concerned with their battles than with this pathetic, peripheral figure. Kurosawa combined King Lear with a Japanese medieval epic that supplied him with Lady Kaede, the wife of Tarotakatora, the oldest son. Kaede Mjeko Harada, with her painted eyebrows perched high on her forehead in perpetual disapproval, could herself be inspired by Lady Macbeth. After Tarotakatora is killed, she threatens the life of his brother Jiromasatora before sparing him to become his mistress she sucks the blood from a cut she has made in his throat. Her bizarre demands of revenge marginalize the old man still further Vengeance and beheadings go on relentlessly, as a reproach to his foolish dreams of peace. Kaedes long overdue death, unseen below the frame but producing a great splash of blood against a wall, is a masterstroke of timing and execution. Advertisement. The film is visually magnificent. Kurosawa refined everything he learned about battle scenes in Kagemusha and the earlier samurai epics. He uses several static cameras to film the action, cutting between them because his cameras dont dart and whirl, we are not encouraged to think of ourselves as participants but as gods, observing, taking the long view here and then a closeup look. One shot, of a man holding his own severed arm, no doubt inspired the similar shot in Steven Spielbergs Saving Private Ryan. Emi Wadas costumes, which won an Academy Award, carry most of the films color. I learn from Cinebooks that the 1,4. Kyoto, traditional seat of Japanese tapestries It took three to four months to make each beautifully colored robe the work was done simultaneously, and it was nearly three years before all were finished. Kurosawa frequently chooses drab backgrounds barren soil, gray slab courtyards, rock steps to show off their dazzling beauty. Every age gets the Shakespeare it deserves. King Lear was written at a time when kings still ruled by divine right. It was the Renaissance belief that human destiny was influenced by ones inner humors Lears pride brought about his fall. Ran is set in medieval times, but it is a 2. But life hurries ahead without any respect for historical continuity his children have their own lusts and furies. His will is irrelevant, and they will divide his spoils like dogs tearing at a carcass. Did this express Kurosawas own view in his 7. Did he reflect that while the West was happy to buy, gut and remake his work, he had lost all power and respect in the country whose films he once ruled Note It is a measure of Kurosawas worldwide influence that Hidden Fortress helped inspire Star Wars, The Seven Samurai was remade as The Magnificent Seven, Yojimbo, and Sanjuro were transformed into the Clint Eastwood westerns A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More. On the other hand, Kurosawa remade, too Throne of Blood is from Macbeth, Lower Depths is from Gorki, The Idiot is from Dostoyevsky, and High and Low is adapted from an Ed Mc. Bain police procedural. Probably one of the most overlooked and underrated films by Carpenter yet possibly his most clever. All his own work and a quite beautiful look at how paranoia and fear within an ever decreasing economy can be exploited for a good story. Now Im not saying all Americans are suspicious conspiracy theory doom mongers but this film exposes that ever present trait whilst also scratching at the notion of constant gross consumer consumption, greed and subversive subliminal messages touching on hypnosis and domination. To be honest the whole idea just shows how some Americans including Carpenter think most of the time, always looking over their shoulder and suspicious. As for the film its a romp that just keeps going and you wanna know how it ends. The start is slow and dull, it takes time to get going but once Nada finds the sunglasses of truth things get really interesting in a good way. I love how Carpenter made this film, its dated but still looks great as it has that nice B movie look which is mainly down to the budget. Think of it as an unintentional result that happens to fit the whole films concept perfectly. Classic 5. 0s alien B movie fluff enhanced with time. The whole idea is really very clever and imagined so well. We see the alien corrupted world controlling the now unaware obedient humans in their daily lives through the black and white shades Nada finds. Without the shades the world appears normal, an illusion created to blinker or fog human eyes. The aliens only appear when the shades are on and boy do they look creepy. Even though its obviously a simple mask the makeup and design is superbly created and really gives an eerie effect. That skeletal skull look with those quite scary eyes I have always been surprised with the great performance by Piper also. The guy was a WWF wrestler at the time for Gods sake yet his acting here is great, just perfect. He really carries off the suspicion and awakening of the story to a tee. As for his character of Nada. I can say is the guy certainly has an element of Jack Burton if you ask me. I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. Im all out of bubblegum. I also like how this film isnt predictable. It keeps you guessing and youre never sure how it will end or who will survive. The subtle political jabs, crazy ass humour and out n out action is a curious blend but like Carpenters 8. Big Trouble in Little China he manages to pull it off with ease and create another cult on his filmography. A great comicbook tale of mindless mediaadvertising supremacy on an Orwellian alien monitored Earth. Brother, lifes a bitch.