It's been awhile since I pulled out a Subtitle Saturday entry, but this is a great film that should be considered, even though you have to read throughout if you don't speak Japanese! One of the things that I have admired every time I have watched a film by Akira Kurosawa is how drenched in passion they are. The characters all live in a culture that seems to prize dignity and honor in a way in which my culture does not. At the same time, since his films deal with characters in crisis, the dignified air of the characters is peeled away, and the viewer is left with raw emotion.
This is on display in "Ran". I have never read "King Lear" by Shakespeare, and that is the play from which Kurosawa took the story for this film. The story follows an aging samurai who decides to retire from his life as a war lord and he passes along his realm and all his authority to one of his sons. Everyone around the aging patriarch questions his decision, but he sticks with it. Almost immediately, everything falls apart. For several different reasons, it becomes clear that the father's decision was not the correct one, and nearly everyone in the story has to live with the dreadful consequences of his decision. There are many stories that have a lot in common with this one. I was reminded of the "Godfather" trilogy, which follows the transfer of power from Vito to Michael, and how Michael's tenure as Godfather ends up working out. In the end, both patriarchs pay terrible prices for how they have chosen to live. While they ruled their clans, there was peace by force. Once they lose that power, all of the hurt and the discord that has always been present bubbles to the surface, and the again patriarch is forced to deal with the consequences of the life that he had chosen.
This film is a sprawling epic that is blood soaked. As such, it reminds me of many ancient epics that are overblown in their violence, but they are that way for a reason. The bloodshed is there to show in an extreme way the results of the actions of the characters. Since this film is in line with a classic tragedy, all the characters are extreme in their emotions and their actions. These extremes end up leading to overblown, violent action. The ability of Kurosawa to evoke humanity in this film is commendable. We know that the patriarch is paying for his past sins, but he is still sympathetic because we see his world crumbling around him. We view with contempt the scheming wife of one of the sons, but we come to understand her rage in the end due to all of her own pain.
The film's battle sequences seem to have inspired many films like "Braveheart." They are amazingly choreographed and realized. The violence in the film is striking and pulls few punches--be warned. But in the end, the film is not about violence. It is about an inability for one generation to pass its vision on to another. As such, it is universal in its themes. The film's true strength is to create sympathy for these characters who live very different lives from the viewer, but are still human. This is a riveting and tragic film which strikes a universal tone.
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