Classic Last Shout for Kurosawa

Ran is Akira Kurosawa's 1985 epic adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear. Like Lear, Ran is about a king's (in

this case ageing Japanese Lord Hidetora, played by Tatuya Nakadai) arrogance & his eventual downfall due to

his pride.

Kurosawa was himself 75 when he made Ran & was perceived as a great director on the decline. The auteur of such

classics as 'The Seven Samurai', 'Rashomon' & 'Hidden Fortress' was again to prove his ditractors wrong with

this classic, sweeping samurai masterpiece. It is said Kurosawa saw something of himself in Lear, or at least

feared it.

Given an R rating, his goriest movie was a critical & commercial success, proving his fear's unfounded. Even

more hard to believe was this acheivement, given he was almost blind.

Lord Hidetora, decides to divide his land between his 3 sonsToro (Akira Terao), Jiro (Jinpachi Nezu) & Saburo

(Daisuke Ryu), with the elder receiving the greater portion. Saburo sees the stupidity & folly of his father's

decision & is banished for saying so. Hidetora is then rebuffed by the other, corrupt & evil sons. A battle

ensues when Hidetora, residing at Saburo's deserted castle is attacked by the combined armies of Taro & Jiro,

who have now through their actions divorced themselves as his children. Forced to flee & wander the hills with

only his jester Kyoami (an actor merely referenced as Peter!) & faithful old assistant Tango (Masayuki Yui) he

slowly goes mad.

First Taro is killed in battle due to the machinations of Lady Kaede (Mieko Harada), seeking vengeance on

Hidetora's entire family for stealing her birthright. She then plots to marry her dead husband's brother, Jiro.

She seduces, threatens & eventually kills Jiro & finally inherits her family's castle. But even at this point

the story is not over. Saburo, the good son is kiled in battle & then Lady Kaede is murdered for her plotting

(again, another gory scene). Chaos, the direct translation of the film title is indeed what has happened as

almost all the main characters die, including Hidetora.

I liked this movie alot. The battle scenes serve their purpose but are not allowed to dominate or compensate

for good plotting & character development (did someone mention the over-hyped Tarantino?). This is a case of a

well-crafted stylised movie BUT not one of style over substance.

Kurosawa sticks to the main themes of Lear; blindness, nothingness, treachery, madness & foolishness without

the movie feeling bound by them. The last shout of a truly great director.

The dvd features were non-existent but for such a great movie this is more than forgiveable.