Ran
Akira Kurosawa’s Ran is considered to be his last great epic. The film is a Japanese period drama, or a “jidaigeki,” and had a budget of $12 million, making it the most expensive Japanese film ever produced up until that point. Ran was only modestly successful in Japan upon its opening, however, and had some rather indifferent luck at many awards ceremonies. The film was completed too late to be entered at Cannes for its opening, so it was released instead at the Tokyo International Film Festival. Kurosawa did not attend the film’s premier at the festival, which angered many. As a result of this, Ran was not submitted as Japan’s entry for Best Foreign Language film at the Oscars. Director Sidney Lumet organized a successful campaign to help get Kurosawa nominated as Best Director, but Kurosawa lost out to Sidney Pollack for his film Out of Africa. Ran did pick up an Academy Award for Costume Design, however.
Ran is often credited as being based around William Shakespeare’s King Lear. While Kurosawa did claim that some of King Lear influenced Ran, he was quick to note that this comparison was not intentional immediately. Kurosawa, who was 75-years-old during the making of Ran, first got the idea of the film during the mid-1970s. He had read a parable about a warlord named Mori Motonari, who was famous for having three sons. Kurosawa began to imagine what would happen had Motonari’s loyal sons been bad and out of that imagination sprang the idea for Ran. Kurosawa only became aware of the similarities to King Lear after he had begun pre-planning his film. The stories merged in a way Kurosawa was never able to explain and he penned the script in 1975, shortly after filming Dersu Uzala. He let it rest for seven years and, during this time, painted storyboards of the shots he thought of in Ran.
During the filming of Kagemusha, which is a film that Kurosawa sometimes refers to as a “dress rehearsal for Ran,” he was finally able to secure funding for Ran through French producer Serge Silberman. Ran was the final film of what is broadly known as Kurosawa’s “Third Period,” which denotes a time in the filmmaker’s history in which it became difficult for him to get funding. He was frequently forced to seek out financial backing during his Third Period. While Kurosawa had directed over twenty films in the first two decades of his career, he was only able to create four films in the two decades that encompassed his Third Period (1965-1985). He found himself competing against television and the dwindling film audiences in Japan and became so depressed that he attempted suicide as a result of being unable to secure funding for his projects. Many other, younger filmmakers boasted that Kurosawa was finished. Until the release of Ran in the mid-1980s, Kurosawa would struggle immensely. By the time he directed Ran, he was almost completely blind and his wife of forty years, Yoko Yaguchi, died during production.
Ran tells the story of the Great Lord Hidetora Ichimonji, played to perfection by the tremendous actor Tatsuya Nakadai. Hidetora has decided to step aside to make room for his three sons, Taro (Akira Terao), Jiro (Jinpachi Nezu), and Saburo (Daisuke Ryu). Hidetora’s only wish is that he be able to live out his remaining days as a guest in his son’s three castles. The two older sons flatter their father with false ideas, but Saburo, the youngest, warns his father of the folly of this plan. Enraged at this, Hidetora revokes Saburo’s status and banishes him. As time passes, the younger son’s words become true and Hidetora finds himself being stripped of everything, including his pride. Attempts on his life are made and the former Great Lord finds himself losing his mind and wandering haplessly through the lands that were once his. His regrets, despair, and inability to forgive himself are his demons as he wanders to find some form of respite from the madness.
Ran was a huge production, as mentioned. It was Kurosawa’s largest and most expensive production in his storied career. The film used around 1400 extras, requiring the construction of 1400 suits of armour. The costumes were designed by Emi Wada and Kurosawa and the production took around two years. Ran also used 200 horses, many of which were imported from the United States. The film was shot amidst the mountains and plains of Japan’s largest active volcano, Mount Aso. Kurosawa was granted permission to shoot at two of Japan’s most famous landmarks, the castles of Himeji and Kumamoto. The third castle of Hidetora was a real building that Kurosawa had built on the slopes of Mount Fuji. As it was burned to the ground, the escape involving Hidetora had to be done in one take.
Ran is a film of such incredible depth that it’s hard to sum it up capably in any review. Thematic elements are explored, including chaos, warfare, family relationships, and nihilism. Chaos occurs repeatedly throughout the film. In many scenes, Kurosawa proceeds scenes of extreme chaos with shots from the clouds that show a breaking storm. Anarchy reigns throughout the lands of Hidetora, whose own autocracy has freed up his sons to act in the same way. Within this framework of chaos, the actions of the sons are hardly surprising, as they have witnessed their father’s blood-spilling ways since birth. This chaos impacts the family relationships immensely and it is Saburo who offers the only rest from the madness for Hidetora. Ran portrays life as a world of endless affliction and chaos, as the film is not of the “happy ending” sort and rather ends with great desolation. Characters die futilely, lacking the heroism or great justice of many of Kurosawa’s other films. The last shot of the film especially demonstrates the anarchy and isolation of the human condition, as Kurosawa illustrates the commonly held principle of a world absent from God or gods.
Ran is one of the greatest epic films I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. It is a bold vision from start to finish, shimmering with passionate colours and strident battles. It also contains a gradation that is often absent from many films, as the relationships and emotions between the film’s rich characters add extra elements to this layered and sharp story. Ran is a brilliant entry for Kurosawa and is a great starting point for anyone curious as to this genius’ work. It is blood-spattered, valiant, and huge, containing battle sequences and tactical movements that make films like Mel Gibson’s Braveheart look asinine. Ran is a masterpiece of such profundity, human grief, and pandemonium that it deserves many repeat viewings. It’s just astonishing.
Trailer:
