Movie Review: Ran

8/10

OK, I'll be up front. I know the play King Lear quite well, so a large part of the surprise and tension of a plot that essentially is identical with a couple of recastings is lost on me.

For those who come to Kurosawa's Ran with no knowledge of the play or plot I'll give the fivepence summary;

Hidetora, an old and venerated leader of men realises he is getting old and cedes control of his kingdom to his oldest son, with castles and lands given to his other two. While he will do this, he will keep his title of "great leader", all his privileges and a retinue of 30.

Now, any student of feudal politics will see the flaw in his logic here. I'm not one, and I did.

Naturally this is a recipe for strife between the brothers as they will vie for power and since two other factions border the land, it may destroy the whole kingdom that Hidetora created in 50 years of bloodshed.

Only one of his sons, Saburo, has the courage to point this out to the old man, and in a rage at his insolence, the Great Leader has Saburo banished, along with one of his own Vassals, Tango (feel free to snicker - did) who makes the same argument.

Saburo is taken in by one of the bordering families and married to their daughter and essentially stands by for the majority of the picture as the family tears itself apart, only returning to retrieve the old man who, rejected and by now quite mad with guilt and horror, wanders the plains of his old kingdom with only his jester for company.

So, obviously folks, for those of you in the know, it's King Lear.

The main switches are for Lear's daughters to morph into Hidetora's three sons and for the introduction of what is essentially a Lady MacBeth character, who works behind the scenes to control matters toward her own end. Minor changes include the Kent/Tango character having less to do and the Gloucester character being reimagined as a victim of Hidetora's past crimes - a blind ghost of his past, if you will.

Right - this debt to Shakespeare is not a problem, many movies are influenced by the great man's work and this one has no pretentions of originality in that regard.

What it does fantastically is tell the story in a striking and emotional way, and in fact the change in setting to feudal Japan works wonders in explaining some of the less rational character choices in Shakespeare since the rigid moral codes here account for much of the false code of European honour propounded by the bard.

Kurosawa was always a wonderful director, both of sweeping vistas and intimate settings - here he doesn't exceed his earlier work such as Seven Samurai in skill and craft. The black and white vistas and images of that film are replaced by modern technicolour, but the colour palette is used to full effect as the three houses differentiate by colour and the vivid blood red stains during the battle scenes attest.

Even more effective is the colour changes surrounding Hidetora himself, who as the film goes on he goes from his starting position on a sunny green hilltop to the grey desert, all the while becoming more ghoulish in appearance to the point of death himself.

The introduction of Lady Kaede, as the manipulative power behind the throne, is another masterstroke - she provides another side to the story, and while the obvious reading of her character is of a crazed villainess, a moments contemplation shows a very different picture.

The battle scenes themselves are epic, confused and deadly, with none being depicted as glorious or victorious in any sense (since we are shown both victor and loser in every case) - the blood itself, of which there is lots, is of the Hammer Horror bright red variety, which is a disappointment though I am unclear as to whether this was an enforcement of rules by the production or not.

It is precisely this way of depicting the seriousness of war that marks Kurosawa as a true genius - many lesser men would introduce some editorialising at these points, or tip their hands as to which side you should be rooting for, but none of the battles end in this way. The defining scene in the whole movie is the shot of Hidetora, betrayed and defeated, unable even to take his own life after breaking his sword, simply wanders out of his tower and through the remnants of the battlefield - and the attacking soldiers part ranks to let him go!

It's an outstanding film, and one that justifies its hefty length with great character work, acting, shooting and effects - I would definitely recommend it not only to anyone who enjoyed Seven Samurai, but also to fans of Shakespeare, who will see how the great man's works translate across the world to another culture entirely.

It's not perfect and it is definitely Seven Samurai's inferior but do see it if you can.

A