When the transfer of power is made, things begin to unfold for the worst. Saburo’s foresight is slowly becoming reality. The two oldest sons has disowned their own father and scheme a plan to have complete total control of the Ichimonji kingdom. Eventually the great lord himself is banished from his own empire that he conquered during his lifetime. He is left to wander in the outskirts of the castle. A man that once was feared and respected has been downgraded to a level even lower than a peasant by his very own sons. In Kurosawa’s retelling of King Lear, he saturates his story of loyalty, deception, faith, love, trust, man’s struggle with humanity, and chaos with rich characters, beautiful scenery, and masterful direction. Ran is an epic masterpiece and it so rightfully deserves the title.

Review: It feels as if colors in film was invented for Akira Kurosawa. Back in his days of black and white, he was able to put a vibrant and colorful film on screen. Ever since he got his hold on color film, he’s expanded his ravishing talent of capturing beautiful imagery (Sure, Dodes ‘ka-den wasn’t so well received, but he was just getting into his groove with color films). Kurosawa’s struggles with the film industry during the later part of his life is quite and astonishing and baffling tale which I won’t dive into (But I highly recommend the 4 hour documentary Kurosawa for those interested).

As always, one of the strongest aspects of a Kurosawa film are the characters. Every character in this film is dynamic. At some point in the movie, their personalities go through a transformation, whether it be for the best of worst. In the case of Hidetora, his powerful and feared warlord character is downgraded into nothing but a out-of-his-mind wanderer. You’ve also got the sinister evil bitch Kaede, who’s family castle was conquered by Hidetora and made to marry Taro. Her serene and calm outside conceals the deadly storm she’s brewing inside. But perhaps the one character you’ll remember the most in this film is the jester guy. No, not because he’s so freakin’ cool or because he’s got catchy one-liners, but because you’ve never wished death to a character so much before. He walks and talks like a woman, and he’s always crying. His role is pivotal to the story however, perhaps not at first, but in the second half of the film. He spits out poetry that reflects what is currently happening in the film. As just like the dynamic characters Kurosawa writes, he does redeem himself by the end of the film, serving a huge role in the overall theme of the film. In the end, it only shows how much his character was able to mature and how amazing Kurosawa is at writing characters. Each character with a credited name, no matter how small the screen time, plays an important part in moving the story along. The cast in this film is everything an ensemble cast should have.

The cinematography in this film is nothing short of amazing. The essence of the scene is captured so beautifully by Kurosawa’s eyes. From the calm green grassy mountains in the beginning to the barren brown lifeless hills to the end, every scene in this film is spectacular. The Japanese castles and structures are simply breath-taking. Back in film days of the 1960s, stunning displays of nature was common in an abundance of films. Ever since the 60s however, they’re has been a shortage of films to truly show us nature at its best. In the 80s, Ran didn’t do a half-assed job of showing nature’s scenery. The whole natural beauty is caught so perfectly in this film. The whole film feels like a surreal painting. Again, color in films was invented for people like Kurosawa.

A word of warning: some might find this film terribly boring. Action wise, there’s only two major battles and that’s it. That probably only takes up 45 minutes in this 2 hours and 40 minutes epic. Much of the film is spent showing Hidetora’s walk into oblivion, establishing background stories for the character, and developing the characters themselves. There’s a lot of talk in this movie so be sure you get a version of this film with good and clear subtitles. As with most samurai films, talk is probably the most essential part, even above the swordplay. Sure, when the battles start, its blistering and mind-numbling enjoyable chaos. The large numbers of the armies standing in lines with samurai uniforms on and battling it out in a green field or in a castle domain makes you feel the craziness of the moment. But alas, most of the film is not filled with displays of swordplay or spear-jabbing. If you are a true film lover, you will love this film for everything it is. If you watch films for entertainment factor.….if you find lots of talk and character development a fun good time, this flick is for you. But if you’re not, see this amazing film anyways, but don’t say I didn’t warn you about the slow pace of the film. However, sitting through all the conversations and reading all the subtitles is totally worth it by the end of the film. All the character development is whole and complete and you feel for these characters, each and every one of them. Yes, you even feel for the evil eyebrow-less bitch Kaede. Everyone in this film has a motive, everyone in this film has an ambition, and they are shown to us in a very satisfying way.