Ran

[bradbrevet]

NOTE: This first post is a continuation from this thread (http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/forum/showthread.php?t=925) in an effort to try and stay on topic I created a Ran specific thread.

Okay, so I went ahead and despite my general disinterest finished the last hour of Ran. I will tell you my opinion on the film has not changed, but I am happy I saw the final moments of Lady Kaede, she is the very best thing about this movie.

Lady Kaede's scene with Lord Jiro is fantastic and her death scene is shocking and extremely effective.

However, her story was really the only one I was able to connect with. Saburo would be the only other character I would say I had any opinion of. I really had no opinion of Hidetora and didn't care what the hell happened to him.

I like the story and believe it would be a fantastic book to read, but this movie is just too long for me to say I truly enjoyed it.

On a side note, doesn't the scene where Lady Kaede and Jiro are interacting remind you a little of the performance Nicole Kidman gave in Eyes Wide Shut? That moment where Kaede is laughing at Jiro really reminded me of that early scene between Kidman and Cruise. Just a thought...

[SaraMichelle]

I remember reading that when they were spending that (almost) two years worth of time filming Eyes Wide Shut in Englad that Ran and a couple of other Kurosawa films were some of the pictures Kubrick showed Cruise and Kidman during production. Like all things Kubrick, there really isn't any way to know if this is true or not (it isn't like I can just call Nicole and chat about her time with the director after all - we're not exactly close ;) ), but it is interesting that you noticed that because I always thought there was some similarity, too. I even mentioned it in my original review for the UW Daily back in 1999.

But, back to Ran, the length never bothers me at all. I find the whole thing absolutely mesmerizing. Kurosawa's take on Shakespeare's King Lear borders on magnificence, his attention to detail and minute absolutely stunning. More, the use of color and motion in the film is absolutely staggering. From the first few images up on that Japanese hilltop to that magnificent battle full of reds, blues and yellows at the end, what he and his cinematographers (there were three on the picture) accomplish on this borders on the remarkable. Even Peter Jackson admitted to using these sequences as templates for his Lord of the Rings trilogy.

It is the emotional power of Ran, however, that completely blows my mind. Tatsuya Nakadai's performance as Lord Hidetora is stunning, maybe one of the best I've ever seen. His journey into madness bruises and batters me every time I watch the film, the inability of his favorite son Saburo (Daisuke Ryu) to save him breaks my heart again and again. As for Mieko Harada, her Lady Kaede is one of my favorite villains of all time, the ice water evil running through her veins on display here certainly one for the acting hall of fame.

But there is so much more I love about this film than that. In fact, just thinking about it is making me want to go back and watch the picture once again. If only I didn't have those pesky deadlines hanging over my head (and the screening for the dreadful looking Definitely, Maybe) I would do so tonight.

As for eating into your PlayStation 3 game playing time... I'm happy to have been of service. :)

(Side Note: Of course the best threads are on the films like Juno, Blade Runner and this one that you haven't really cared for. What makes these films great - and I do include Juno in the list of great films - is that they provoke discussion and debate and they force you to have an opinion. That's what a great film does, and even if it doesn't work for you personally it still gives you oceans of material to discuss and debate with others. You should here the ongoing arguments I've been having with a coworker about There Will Be Blood this week. They've been both brutal and wonderful, just as they should be.)