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6. Ran
Unlike the majority, Ran is my favorite Kurosawa. And I rightly believe so because, first of all, hell, Kurosawa himself said he considers Ran to be his best work. Other reasons will be explained below.
Ran is the final, big explosion of Kurosawa's career. All the knowledge, all the experience, all those years are poured into one great epic masterpiece. He lets out everything with the help of color and a bigger budget. His trademark shots of armies beautifully riding down hills from far away in one take, warriors seemingly dancing through the plains on horses are the best in this film, mainly because of above.
I really like the character development. The first 30 minutes are spent letting the characters to talk and slowly let us be captivated into them. The final battle doesn't happen until the last half hour, and during that time Kurosawa cleverly balances human emotions between a crazed lord and his trusty servants, and builds tension with short bursts of violence caused by the greedy, selfish fighting sons.
But the best aspect of them all is definitely the battle scenes. Kurosawa's decision to have the castle raid scene without sound is absolutely genius. The lack of sound and only the bloody and dead souls all around you with dark and ominous shots of armies raiding in make you really sink into the atmosphere and the stuff that's happening. The final battle between the two brothers are in contrast, better with sound. This time Kurosawa is trying to show the realistic part of battles, where it's not just a reckless and heroic charge, but one with countless back and forths, lasing, stabbing from behind, and the dreadful sound of gunfire and men helplessly falling off horses to their death. Both battles are a cinematic masterpiece.
In conclusion, compared to Ran's quality I don't think a lot of people have seen it. If you're already a Kurosawa fan, I really suggest you watch this masterpiece. For those just getting into Kurosawa this isn't much of a first film, but once you understand his brilliance make sure to come back to what I think is the pinnacle of his career- a undoubtful favorite of mine.
Unlike the majority, Ran is my favorite Kurosawa. And I rightly believe so because, first of all, hell, Kurosawa himself said he considers Ran to be his best work. Other reasons will be explained below.
Ran is the final, big explosion of Kurosawa's career. All the knowledge, all the experience, all those years are poured into one great epic masterpiece. He lets out everything with the help of color and a bigger budget. His trademark shots of armies beautifully riding down hills from far away in one take, warriors seemingly dancing through the plains on horses are the best in this film, mainly because of above.
I really like the character development. The first 30 minutes are spent letting the characters to talk and slowly let us be captivated into them. The final battle doesn't happen until the last half hour, and during that time Kurosawa cleverly balances human emotions between a crazed lord and his trusty servants, and builds tension with short bursts of violence caused by the greedy, selfish fighting sons.
But the best aspect of them all is definitely the battle scenes. Kurosawa's decision to have the castle raid scene without sound is absolutely genius. The lack of sound and only the bloody and dead souls all around you with dark and ominous shots of armies raiding in make you really sink into the atmosphere and the stuff that's happening. The final battle between the two brothers are in contrast, better with sound. This time Kurosawa is trying to show the realistic part of battles, where it's not just a reckless and heroic charge, but one with countless back and forths, lasing, stabbing from behind, and the dreadful sound of gunfire and men helplessly falling off horses to their death. Both battles are a cinematic masterpiece.
In conclusion, compared to Ran's quality I don't think a lot of people have seen it. If you're already a Kurosawa fan, I really suggest you watch this masterpiece. For those just getting into Kurosawa this isn't much of a first film, but once you understand his brilliance make sure to come back to what I think is the pinnacle of his career- a undoubtful favorite of mine.