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Ran  | 80% Recommended by our customers. Publisher: Shambhala Catalog: Book Release date: 1986-09-12 Media: Paperback Number of pages: 110 Ean: 9780877733874 Book Isbn: 0877733872  Tip: compare prices with similar booksAuthor:
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| User Reviews: |
 Written on January 23, 2008 Summary: Must-have for Kurosawa fans. This is an amazing movie. If you're a Kurosawa fan, don't hesitate to buy this. If you're not yet a fan, you may want to start with "Seven Samurai"--less blood. Written on January 9, 2008 Summary: "In a world gone mad it's madness to be sane." Greed, deception, betrayal, and war are the main theme's here in Ran. A beautifully shot Japanes war epic with a weaving story of politics and violent battle's. A father of three son's step's down as Great Lord to leave his oldest son with the title of Great Lord, another brother is shunned for his discontent with his father's decision, while the other brother secretly plan's his takeover of the throne. It's very sad how greed and deciept take over this family as the bloody war's breakout, with scene's that make most Hollywood movie's pale in comparison. This is a beatifully directed film with great performances, gory battle's, gorgeous landscapes, and a great story. Highly Recommended. Written on November 10, 2007 Summary: An old man pays for his sins We meet the warlord Hidetora (Tatsuya Nakadai) as a pleasant old man, satisfied with his success in life, desiring only to bring peace to the land by dividing his kingdom among his three sons (Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, and Daisuke Ryu) and to spend his waning years spending time with each in turn. Soon, the colossal hubris of the man becomes apparent. He disowns the one son who has the integrity to tell him to his face that his idyllic plan will never work. Hidetora should have listened. After a lifetime of subjugating others with his armies, he believes that his desires will come to pass simply because he wishes it. However, his remaining sons have been raised in the house of a warlord during a time of constant warfare, and they have no intention of living in peace. Rather, they fall upon each other in a struggle for supremacy, turning the old man out as an inconvenience. As our sympathy for Hidetora grows, we are also made to realize how richly he is reaping the seeds that he has sown through two important characters. Lady Kaede (Mieko Harada), who manipulates one of his sons into facilitating the downfall of his house, watched her family murdered by Hidetora. Tsurumaru (Mansai Nomura), a young blind man who lives a wretched, solitary existence, suffered the plucking out of his eyes at Hidetora's command when he was a young boy. Growing increasingly senile, Hidetora wanders through a land in chaos as the suppressed passions generated by the horrors he perpetrated bear full fruit. This is a complex, dramatic and often beautiful film. Written on November 7, 2007 Summary: Man is born crying. He cries and cries and then he dies. I won't add anything more about the greatness of this film, but will say that it has got to be the last great REAL epic ever made. That would have been "Dances With Wolves," but Costner ruined that film by adding another hour of utterly worthless material to it. And it also could have been "The Last Emperor" in 1987, but that had the opposite damage done - an hour was removed for idiot American audiences, resulting in the film being an incomplete hack-job (and it STILL won Best Picture and Editor!). RAN, when you watch it, amazes. It is Noh Theatre shot on location and it works. The score is a Mahlerian wonder by Toru Takemitsu and I treasure the two cd set I hunted down in Japan. The use of color, the acting, and Lady Kaede's lethal Kriemhild-like revenge... just astounding. Kurosawa, who loved silent films, was clearly influenced by Fritz Lang's DIE NIBELUNGEN films, because the burning of the Third Castle in RAN is identical, and just as dangerously spectacular, as the burning of Attila's palace in "Kriemhild's Revenge." Kurosawa made several films after this before he died, but RAN is the validation of his magnificent career. Written on September 30, 2007 Summary: What an experience! (This review is for the Masterworks edition.) This is the type of film that's so intense and powerful that afterwards the viewer may feel like s/he needs to unwind emotionally, to recover and come down from such a powerhouse of a cinematic experience. It's also the type of film that just gets better and better with each new viewing, as the viewer becomes more and more familiar with the story and characters and keeps picking up on new things s/he might not have paid much attention to before. And though the film is over two and a half hours long, it's one of those films where the time goes by like that, not a dull or wasted moment. Even those who haven't read 'King Lear' can enjoy the story and get into it, though familiarity with the play does help a bit in one's understanding of some of the basics. Shakespeare really was a writer for all time, with his play able to be adopted so well hundreds of years later in an entirely different culture and milieu, the story of the old king and his three children just as compelling and relevant when it's transformed into a tale of feudal Japan. And while there are some things which are left out, most of the story stays pretty faithful to the original. One of the slight changes I loved was how the character of the Fool was a much more important character; when I first studied the play as a highschool senior, my entire class and even the teacher really liked that character and didn't understand why he just disappears so suddenly before the play is even over. I can't think of a single flaw in this film; the pacing is great, the color and cinematography are beautiful, there are so many great characters, everyone's acting is great, the music is very powerful (particularly during the scene of the battle at the Third Castle midway through, when there's no sound except for the music), and the themes are ones for all time, just as relevant today as they were in feudal Japan or when the film was made. Overall, it's the type of film one can't really appreciate the greatness of for oneself until one actually sees it. Hearing a lot of words of praise just can't hold a candle to having that experience for oneself. The extras are trailers, weblinks, a demo of the restoration used (the difference between the color on this version and the earlier one is stunning), a filmography, production notes, and audio commentaries. Of the commentaries, my favorite was the one by Stephen Price, which added a lot to the viewing of the film. The second one, by Peter Grilli, has its moments, but is more about the making of the film and Kurosawa's personality than the actual story itself, in contrast to the other commentary. There are also way too many long, long, long pauses in this commentary, so it doesn't add as much to one's understanding and appreciation of the film. Since I don't really understand or deeply care about the differences between certain types of aspect ratios, I can't really comment on the version used for this transfer, but it does sound like the print used on the newer Criterion edition is even more beautiful than this one. The extras on that version also sound far superior to the extras on the Masterworks edition, so it seems like the Criterion DVD is the only one to get for those who love this film and want it to get the deluxe treatment it deserves. |
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