Review of Ran (1985) by Michelle W — 08 Jan 2011

From the beginning I was captivated. The opening has the controlled beautiful cinematography that I have come to expect from Kurosawa and I knew that I was going to like Ran.

First off, drawing inspiration from Shakespeare was a great idea, it makes Ran so epic and themes of loyalty and pride make it timeless. Ran is very well adapted and I even prefer it to King Lear. I feel that the characters were stronger, especially Lady Kaede, and Hidetora, they were given more of a past and more motive.

I don't think you can ever fault Kurosawa's craft. His films are beautiful in every way. Here it is a poetic, elegant beauty that is present even in the massacre, the score complements the film well too.

This is an epic worthy of and in my opinion, surpasses Shakespeare, more beautiful than you can imagine.