32
Ran
Release date 1st June 1985
Country : Japan
Running time : 160 mins
Genre : Action/Adventure
Starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao
Screenplay by Akira Kurosawa
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
An elderly samurai lord abdicates to his three sons, and the two corrupt ones turn against him.
This Japanese version of King Lear with sons instead of daughters is a majestic action film but also an acutely observed psychological drama about the corruption of power. More thoughtful than some of the director's earlier works it to me represents the peak of the achievements of the finest of Japanese directors, all the more remarkable that Kurosawa was in his 70s when it was made.
Kurosawa spent ten years storyboarding every scene and getting together the money for the movie. He described Kagemusha (1980) as a "dress rehearsal".
DVD
available in the Criterion Collection:Release date 1st June 1985
Country : Japan
Running time : 160 mins
Genre : Action/Adventure
Starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao
Screenplay by Akira Kurosawa
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
An elderly samurai lord abdicates to his three sons, and the two corrupt ones turn against him.
This Japanese version of King Lear with sons instead of daughters is a majestic action film but also an acutely observed psychological drama about the corruption of power. More thoughtful than some of the director's earlier works it to me represents the peak of the achievements of the finest of Japanese directors, all the more remarkable that Kurosawa was in his 70s when it was made.
Kurosawa spent ten years storyboarding every scene and getting together the money for the movie. He described Kagemusha (1980) as a "dress rehearsal".
DVD Talk
Digitally Obsessed
DVD Beaver
(comparison of various editions)
33 31
Written content copyright Derek McLellan,2005.
Copyright © The Fedora Chronicles
