Ran Review

Number 126 on the top 1000 films of all time is the historical Japanese epic: Ran.

Adapted from Shakespeare's, King Lear, Ran is set in Medieval Japan.  It tells the story of ageing emperor Hidetora Ichimonji, who in his decision to abdicate, divides his power and territory between his three sons Taro, Jiro and Saburo.  However, he soon finds that the power corrupts them, as they begin fighting each other.

I always feel guilty about criticising a film on this list.  I mean, it has to be number 126 for a reason, right? Well, I just did not get on with Ran.  My main problem was its sheer length.  At two and a half hours, the pacing was slow and there was far too much talking.  Within ten minutes, I found myself losing interest.

Ran did receive critical acclaim for its costume design, as well as being the most expensive Japanese film for the time.  Where this praise was well-deserved was its battle sequences.  While they were few and far between, the sons do battle with one another.  And I found these sequences to be the most engaging parts of the film, partially, because something was actually happening, but also because of how visceral the violence was.  I was surprised by how real it felt.

As someone who has studied King Lear, it was interesting seeing the parallels between it and Ran, such as all of the character and scene equivalents.  I enjoyed the part where Ichimonji wanders into the wasteland and succumbs to madness, only to be rescued by his jester and his loyal servant Tango.  That notwithstanding, this wasn't the film for me.  While the cast wasn't particularly large, it was difficult for me to distinguish between the characters.  But more importantly, it was just too long to sustain my interest.