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Ran (Masterworks Edition) Actors: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryu Director: Akira Kurosawa Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen Format: Color, Widescreen, Dolby Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Running Time: 160 minutes Studio: Wellspring Media, In Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2003-04-15 Buy from Amazon |
 "Refers to the "Masterworks" Edition"RAN is a masterpiece of a film and this review is not about the quality of the movie but about the quality of this DVD. If you play this DVD on a 32" non-widescreen TV the picture will look passable as a "letterboxed" film, but be sure to rent and try this edition out on your 50" or 55" or 65" wide-screen TV before buying! The first problem is that the anamorphic picture cuts off the edges of the credits (a clue that you're not getting all of the frame). Even more disturbing is that the image has an electronic "video" cast to it. Unlike good DVD transfers, there is twitching to still objects on-screen like lattice or anything with parallel lines. The colors are bright but lacking definition (they give off an aura) and again have an electronic cast that looks more like video than film. Overall this transfer is deplorable, and the fact that Wellspring is proud of this "hi-def" transfer is shocking. As someone who owns over 300 movies on DVD and has seen the full range of quality from early full-screen knock-offs like National Lampoon's VACATION to fantastic DVD's like the LOTR editions and X-MEN, I know what the standard is for a special version of a DVD in November 2003, and this disc does not cut it. Wellspring . . . get your act together.  "Bloody Wonderful Film! Literally!"As I'm studying for a Ph.D and hoping to specialize in Renaisance English drama, it seemed a good idea to see this film, Kirosawa's adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear to feudal Japan. And I am very glad I did! Kirosawa's tale may actually improve upon some of the things Shakespeare did in some cases. We're given a good view of what "Lear" was like in his youth through ruins and the fact that his two older sons are both married to women who's families he conquered and slaughtered. The Fool, a mainstay of the Shakespearean tale, is given a scene that shows the pathos of the man. Lamenting that he's spent his whole life being nurse/entertainer to Lord Hidetora, the audience can see why he'd want to pack up and run away. And yet he stays (more than you can say for Shakespeare's Fool, who just disappears at one point and is never seen again). Kirosawa also answers the question of what happened to Lear's knights for his film. Hidetora's retainers still follow him, they don't just disappear, and it's their fate the fact it is caused by Hidetora's two older sons, Jiro and Toru, that ultimately drive him to extreme madness. What Kirosawa adds also makes for a much nastier ending. Lady Kaede outscores all the Bard of Avon's shrews and masculine women as a manipulative demon. Without her influence, perhaps her husband Toru wouldn't have decided to humiliate his father, and most certainly younger brother Jiro wouldn't have goen to war. That she's punished for her actions is a certainty...that she was still successful adds an awful dimension to the film. Compared to her opposite number, the dutiful Buddhist Lady Sue, we can see the world of Ran is one that rewards treachery and force, while the quiet contemplative life won't get you anywhere. Hidetora's end was caused by his actions in life, and just as he's starting to finally come to terms with the man he was, the culture he lives in, and the events around him, it is far too late and all we're left with is a blind man almost stumbling off a castle wall. "A great movie by one of the greatest..."...story tellers, yes if there was one movie director who accepted his job as a mare story teller instead of a "movie director", it is the grand old man of the east, Akira Kurosawa. Kurosawa is a story teller, painter, musician, statesman, and a warrior... So, when you're watching "Ran" every still shot moving shot and close-up could be a painting on its on right, the sound--from battles to the haunting flute conveys the nihilistic message of the film... and Kurosawa tells you the story of politics, and he depicts battles like no-one else ever comes close to... "Ran" is not an artsy film, nor it is a mindless Hollywood action movie, and off course it is not an "over-done Shakespeare" as well. Watch this movie with an open mind, and remember that a grand old man is telling you a story. This is all I can say about Akira Kurosawa and his last epic "Ran"... a masterpiece. "Spectacular"This film was the last of Kurosawa's great epics. It is loosely based on King Lear but with Kurosawa's own plot twists and injections of Japanese culture including Noh influences. The story basically revolves around the treachery of 2 of the Great Lord's sons after they are bequeathed his power and the rejection and final redemption of the son the Great Lord initially banishes. Although, the film is 2 and half hours long, it does not get boring. The acting is phenomenal, the battle scenes are spectacular, and the cinematography is breathtaking. The kind of filmmaking that Ran represents is virtually extinct. Movies no longer use thousands of extras and hundreds of real horses and can no longer convey the realism of movies like Ran. Fortunately for us, Ran is beautifully restored as you can see in the Restoration Demo under the special features. The commentary by Stephen Prince without a doubt establishes the 5-star rating for this DVD. He analyzes the film constantly from beginning to end pointing out salient features of Kurosawa's style and making sure we understand everything relevant to Kurosawa's direction of Ran. The second commentary by Peter Grilli is not quite as interesting unfortunately. Despite the absence of the incredible Toshiro Mifune, I highly recommend this DVD.  "Ran out"Kurosawa commanded his still formidable cinematic powers like weather patterns coalescing into a full blown hurricane. Visually, Kurosawa achieves wonders. Dramatically, however, the core story of Hidetora amounts to only a drizzle. With mouth agape and face painted white, Tasuya Nakadai--usually a great actor--meanders around like he took some bad acid. And, that jester kid... someone kill him! Kurosawa tried a bit too hard to sum up his career, to make this his final statement on art, history, humanity, philosophy, etc. but the movie's too detached to convey any deep meaning. However, as tragic pageantry it's colorful and impressive. The centerpiece of the movie is the attack on the third castle. It's perhaps Kurosawa's vision of the Cold War, two armies ostensibly fighting the outnumbered retainers of Hidentora but in reality eyeing the other cautiously to gain the ultimate prize. |
