#316: KUROSAWA, Akira: Ran (1985)

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KUROSAWA, Akira (Japan)
Ran [1985]
Spine #316
DVD
OOP


With Ran, legendary director Akira Kurosawa reimagines Shakespeare's King Lear as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan. Majestic in scope, the film is Kurosawa's late-life masterpiece, a profound examination of the folly of war and the crumbling of one family under the weight of betrayal, greed, and the insatiable thirst for power.

160 minutes
Color
Stereo
in Japanese
1:85:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2005
Director/Writers


Screenplay by Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, and Masato Ide.
Kurosawa was 75 when he directed Ran.

Eclipse Series 7: One Wonderful Sunday (1947)
#413: Drunken Angel (1948)
Eclipse Series 7: Scandal (1950)
Eclipse Series 7: The Idiot (1951)
#221: Ikiru (1952)
#2: Seven Samurai (1954)
Eclipse Series 7: I Live In Fear (1955)

The Film

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Thirty-two page booklet featuring an essay by Michael Wilmington and interviews with Kurosawa and Tōru Takemitsu.

Commentary

By film scholar Stephen Prince.

An appreciation

Of the film by director Sidney Lumet.
A.K.

A 74-minute film by director Chris Marker.
Documentary

30-minutes on the making of Ran, part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create.
Video piece

35-minutes reconstructing Ran through Kurosawa’s paintings and sketches, created as part of the series Image: Kurosawa’s Continuity.
Video interview

With actor Nakadai.
Theatrical trailers

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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