☆☆☆☆☆ Masterpiece
乱 Ran (1985) is an epic and grand opus to human folly.
Directed by Akira Kurosawa.
Starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Mieko Harada and Jinpachi Nezu among many others.
Watching Ran's action sequences I suddenly realized that Kurosawa had the cameras in a static position. Strange because, master action directors like Luc Besson in Nikita - La Femme Nikita (1990) always have us follow the action by moving the camera with the action. As I watched more of the action, Akira would switch from a wide angle lens to a close up lens I began to see the film's breathtaking visuals not as an audience member immersed in the unfolding drama as a silent character, but as a God would view the carnage from a vantage point. Ran means Chaos, so Kurosawa wants us to view the drama as man's folly in the eyes of God and not as some Shakespearean tragedy like King Lear, which partly inspired Akira's, Ran. Kurosawa actually started thinking of Ran's plot when he read about the Sengoku-era warlord Mōri Motonari who had three wise and loyal sons. Akira thought it would be more interesting plot wise if the three sons were more like King Lear's sons. The two stories then merged together inside Kurosawa's creative mind to become Ran. Akira further enlightened me on himself and the lead character in Ran when he says, "Hidetora is me" and not King Lear. Watching the film again with this knowledge gives you a whole different perspective not only on Ran, but on its genius director.
I love the scene below, because the female takes the male's role in seeking revenge for the death of her husband and the Kings son. I wonder if Kurosawa had read Shakespeare's Richard III? In the Lady Anne scene, Richard offers Lady Anne his sword and she does not have the strength or courage that Mieko's character has in the scene. Both end up with their husbands killer at the end of their scenes.
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