Ran – Review

William Shakespeare probably wouldn’t have ever dreamed that one of his works would be adapted into a tale set in feudal Japan. But that is exactly what Akira Kurosawa did with his classic epic film Ran, which is based on the legends of the daimyo Mōri Motonari and the Shakespearean tragedy King Lear. And in the most part it fits like a samurai glove. This is perhaps our best chance to experience it in all its glory too, as French laboratory Éclair, under StudioCanal and Kadokawa Pictures’ supervision, has flawlessly restored the picture into digital 4K.

Towards the beginning of the film we witness an ageing warlord, Hidetora Ichimonji – who has spent his lifetime consolidating his empire – abdicating his throne and dividing his kingdom amongst his three sons. This instantly backfires on him, however, as his youngest son Saburo appears to have no respect in his father’s eyes, when he voices concerns about the wisdom of this plan, claiming that treachery within the family will be inevitable. Hidetora takes the hasty decision to banish him from the kingdom and instead divides it up between his other sons, Taro and Jiro. What ensues is much Shakespearean scheming, a bloody quest for absolute power, and Hidetora’s decent into madness.

At 160 minutes long, modern audiences may well struggle to get on with this film. It’s a piece for which you need to have a lot of patience and a willingness to accept its more dated elements. What is slightly to its detriment too, is the conversely all too rapid decent of Hidetora into madness. The pacing of this element of the tale just feels a little off and is where the adaptation has leaned too heavily on the foundations of the story of King Lear. It results in the overall feel of the piece having a theatrical quality, when more realism would have served it better. What can’t be denied however, is how iconic and effective the heavy, ghost-like makeup worn by Tatsuya Nakadai’s character, Hidetora, is. An outwards projection of his inner turmoil perhaps, or that, betrayed and destroyed, he is now more like a living ghost.

On the subject of realism: it’s a film which was ahead of its time in terms of offering such scale, vibrancy and a distinctive use of colour in its epic battle scenes. It truly makes an art of war through a convincing sense of realism. Because, with a budget of $11 million, it was the most expensive Japanese film ever produced up to that time, and with this they were able to enact these scenes how they should be. These scenes are so impressive that they are able to rival even a modern epic and are worth the price of admission for alone.

Ran leaves its mark as a cultural landmark and an ingenious retelling of Shakespeare’s King Lear. The brooding, scheming build up and epic finale is an experience which will stay with you long after you have finished watching it. So struggle through its more dated, slower theatrical scenes and you will be rewarded for your patience. This is a classic – not perfect, but certainly deserving of the acclaim it has received throughout the years.