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#157 - Ran
Akira Kurosawa, 1985



In feudal Japan, an ageing warlord's decision to abdicate his position results in a power struggle between his three sons.

Ran has quite rightfully earned a reputation for being an epic film as it translates Shakespearean tragedy into a larger-than-life tale of family disputes leading to all-out war and destruction. The theatrical approach to the material in every scene - ranging from lonely soliloquy to crowded skirmish - can come across as something of a double-edged sword that constantly threatens to tip over into potentially alienating melodrama, but it never does. The plot and characters may be painted in broad strokes, but that's to be expected and accepted in a film of this magnitude - even though the film is not shy about its more artificial aspects, that is not an obstacle to the actors emoting with gusto. While you have the legendary Tatsuya Nakadai delivering another magnificent turn as the old warrior at the heart of the story, the performer that truly stands out above all others is Mieko Harada as the Lady Macbeth-like noblewoman who commands every scene in which she appears and makes for a remarkably strong presence. As for the surrounding film, well, it's amazing to see Kurosawa work wonders in full-blooded colour that extends from immaculately-designed costumes to elaborately-staged battles. Though I'm not so sure that large-scale clashes between warring soldiers play all the way to Kurosawa's strengths, they hold up just fine. I suspect that Ran won't overtake Seven Samurai as my favourite Kurosawa, but it certainly comes closer than any of his other films as it goes for a whole other kind of epic and succeeds admirably.