Classic Movies: The Story of Ran on Sky Arts

 

I have never seen Ran, (the Japanese word for chaos, turmoil or revolt and pronounced "Rahn", the epic movie directed and co-written by Akira Kurosawa. For more about Kurosawa see post of 2nd January 2020 in the first series of The Directors, also Shakespeare on Film posted on 12th April 2022, a review of Living on my post of 17th November 2022, adapted from Kurosawa's Ikiru, (This is the first time I have decided to make as many cross references to my blog as possible as part of my new Film Studies exercise). There is a tiny part of an interview with the director at the very beginning of this episode. 

Ran took ten years to make. He had made twelve movies between 1950 and 1965, all black and white, lots of Samurai stories including the influential "Seven Samurai". But then only four from 1970 onwards. Ran was very difficult to make and took ten years to it's release in 1985, but the use of colour was a great decision. This is a film on an epic scale with hundreds of extras. It was enormously hard for Kurosawa to find funding for such a hugely expensive picture. 

Kurosawa's father wanted his children to be immersed in Western as well as Japanese culture. When we were shown the first clip from the film, I immediately thought: this is King Lear. Of course I was not the only one, as the presenters mention it many times. "Of course it's Lear" says Derek Malcolm. Neil Norman confirms this is an incredible epic about an old man.  Kurosawa's Throne of Blood is straight from Macbeth. New presenter Christina Newland for this series tells us how his films went out of fashion in Japan, and even on it's release, Ran did far better in the West than in his home country. Until now. 

Christina tells us about the warlords of the 15th and 16th century on which the film is based. Originally just a samurai story and then blended into a Shakespearean tragedy. There is even Lear's fool, a character totally absent from any Japanese history. Neil Norman tells us that Hidetora Ichimonji has spent fifty years at war (what for we may ask) and is dividing his kingdom between his three sons. Sounds familiar? This leads to the final battle and his demise. It takes place at the castle built from scratch at enormous cost on the slopes of Mt Fuji. We are told that one of the last scenes of the storming of the burning castle had to be filmed in one take as it could only burn once. 

There is a part about the actor chosen to play Hidetora, Tatsuya Nakadai, and also Mieko Harada as  Lady Kaede, the evil daughter in law bent on the King's destruction. Christina calls her " a force of nature". Then there is one part of the film where, as we are told by Steven Armstrong, "a warlord is reduced to just one other man as they are lost in the wilderness". Again that sounds familiar. 

The cinematography is huge, there were four armies at the end. The presenters are amazed at the costumes, the 15th century armour, the sets, the make up, the extras. We are shown how Hidetora's facial make up changes through the film, something to look out for. Christina says this movie harnesses the director's whole body of work and is "a late career masterpiece".  Kurosawa was presented with a lifetime achievement Oscar at the Academy Awards. It's left for Derek Malcolm to conclude that "this was an extraordinary film from an extraordinary director. We won't see his like again". Ran really needs to be seen on the big screen, but in the meantime I have ordered the DVD.