Ran (1985)

Ever since Commodore Perry forced opened the gates of Japan in 1853, Western cultural influences in Japan have caused radical changes and even conflict. RAN,directed by Akira Kurosawa and based on Shakespeare's "King Lear", is a truly beautiful master piece which takes a very old Western play and moulds it into something, well, Japanese, showing that western culture does not always dominate its eastern counterpart. King Lear's daughters are now Lord Hidetora Ichimonji's sons and, as in King Lear, Hidetora divides his kingdom between them. However, one of his sons is critical of his plan, he tells Hidetora with no small amount of force that it is greatly flawed which Hidetora takes as disrespect from his youngest son. Hidetora banishes his son and continues with his plan to divide the land. Unfortunately for Hidetora, he managed to banish the one son of his who wasn't an evil, corrupt schemer (one in three, what were the odds) and things go rapidly down hill from there. But this isn't your average episode of Eastenders here, (as proven by the costume department for this film, and I have it on good authority that you can't buy and live in a castle in the east end of london) this film has something to say on everything from religion to parenting to flute playing and how to snap a bundle of arrows (this is a very practical film in its own way).

But as interesting as arrow breaking is it is this film's interpretation of King Lear that i think is more interesting. At the start of the film Hidetora is an old hand at war, he has spent his entire life fighting for control over the valley in which he was born. He is brimming with confidence in his skill, we see him shoot a wild boar to kick things off at the start, and wisdom, he seems to very much enjoy telling his sons about how if they are united they are impossible to snap. But it is in his sons that we, as the audience, see his greatest weakness, his sons speak to him with the utmost respect (he is a rather powerful warlord after all) but as events unfold its clear to see that these sons have little love for their rather arrogant father and they disregard him once he gives up his power to them. Hidetora was completely blind to this and could not have imagined it happening in his wildest dreams for he had complete faith in his sons to carry out his will even after he had given up his power (i know if i started calling my dad "Great Lord" every other sentence it would go straight to his head) so, in a way, Hidetora has the experience of a child in the field of parenting and the relationship he has with his sons. I personally felt sorry for Great Lord Hidetora, he placed massive trust in his sons to shield him in his twilight years but they betrayed that trust and used it to further their own selfish ambitions (all except the son he banished, this guy makes all the right choices).

But it becomes harder to feel sorry for Hidetora as Hidetora is an old hand at war, which involved slaughtering the old inhabitants of all the castles he owns. He even had the family of his own daughter in law, Lady Kaede, murdered as she tells her husband about 20 mins into the film. The child of a murdered family, victims of Hidetora, with his eyes gouged out all grown up and the brother of yes, you guessed it, another daughter in law (only this time married to a different son). It's stuff like this that makes Hidetora with his annoying hair cut seem more like the bad guy here, his sons are just too much like their father (except for the one he banished, in decision making terms this guy was on fire at the start of the film)so it has all come back to destroy everything he achieved in his rather bloodthirsty life.

And there is no shortage of blood in this film, although you will never at any point see a single sword cross another. All the death is dealt by muskets and bows and arrows, leaving men dismembered and bristling with arrows. But the battles in this film are works of art, choreographed to perfection and acted out with superb precision and attention to detail. Watching the ripples of gun fire snatch horsemen from their saddles as their commanders look on with pale faces and absolute panic in their expressions (the acting in this whole film was superb with my favourite performances being Lady Kaede, played by Mieko Harada, and obviously Lord Hidetora himself, played by the great lord of acting Tatsuya Nakadai).

The film has a lot of talking in it but I was never bored (though that may be because they are all speaking Japanese) but the action sequences keep you interested and captivated. The film has many many different meanings and interpretations but it all seems to revolve around the court Jester Kyoami's words; "Man is born crying; when he has cried enough, he dies". This pretty much sums up Hidetora's time in the film and reflects on our own lives as well, what else do we do but cry and make a lot of noise in life before keeling over and making way for the next generation of noisy people?Also, Kyoami's ridiculous dances and songs always seem to be eerily accurate predictions of everything that's about to happen in the film so keep an eye out for him and everything he says. There is a lot of death in this film and a lot of stuff to be sad about (the film was actually put on hold for many years as the producers were worried the film was just too sad) but it is definitely one of the best foreign films i have ever seen. If you are going to watch this film, be prepared as this film will shadow you for weeks afterwards.