Shoot the Glass

Ran (1951, Akira Kurosawa)

Yet another Kurosawa, and I’m starting to truly appreciate the man now. Ran, of course, is an adaptation of sorts of one of William Shakespeare’s finest plays, King Lear. It tells of an old warlord who decides to relinquish control of his kingdom and divide it among his three sons (in Lear, they are daughters). The sons then turn on him, and eachother, and the old man is left to contemplate his mistakes and wrongdoings.

Kurosawa has masterfully combined Shakespeare’s essence with a Japanese epic to create a brilliant movie. The grand scenes look magnificent, and the story is absolutely engaging throughout.

Technically, this movie is also fantastic. Kurosawa uses colours to great effects — the three sons all wear differently coloured robes, and a lot of the scenes are set against dull backdrops, making the costumes pop. It’s simply gorgeous to look at.

One of my favourite scenes was the first major battle scene, which occurs about an hour into the movie. There is a score which drowns out any other sound, and the visuals are graphic and bloody to the extreme.

Critics have argued that Kurosawa couldn’t have made this movie any sooner than he did (he was 75 at the time). I’m not a scholar so can’t speak to the merit of that statement, but it seems to me as though the character of the old man does require a certain life experience to be able to handle. When he finally got around to making the movie, Kurosawa had already seen his heyday. He was suffering from depressing and he was nearly blind. He struggled for ten years to get the movie made, having trouble finding anyone to finance the project.

This movie is a masterpiece. I can’t wait to see it again in a few years.

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