RAN (DVD) (CRITERION COLLECTION) DVD

Ran
Ran is Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa's reinterpretation of William Shakespeare's King Lear. The Lear counterpart is an elderly 16th-century warlord (Tatsuya Nakadai), who announces that he's about to divide his kingdom equally among his three sons. In his dotage, he falls prey to the false flattery of his treacherous sons (Akira Terao and Jinpachi Nezu), while banishing his youngest son (Daisuke Ryu), the only member of the family who loves him enough to tell him the unvarnished truth. Thanks to his foolish pride, his domain collapses under its own weight as the sons battle each other over total control. Kurosawa's first film in five years, Ran had been in the planning stages for twice that long; Kurosawa had storyboarded the project with a series of vivid color paintings that have since been published in book form in England. The battle scenes are staged with such brutal vigor that it's hard to imagine that the director was 75 years old at the time. This 160-minute historical epic won several international awards, but it was not a hit in Japan, and it would be five more years before Kurosawa would be able to finance another picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast Tatsuya Nakadai as Lord Hidetora Ichimonji Akira Terao as Tarotakatora Ichimonji Jinpachi Nezu as Jiromasatora Ichimonji Daisuke Ryu as Saburonaotora Ichimonji Mieko Harada as Lady Kaede Yoshiko Miyazaki as Lady Sue Hisashi Igawa as Kurogane Masayuki Yui as Tango

Crew Emi Wada - Costume Designer Akira Kurosawa - Director Akira Kurosawa - Editor Toru Takemitsu - Composer (Music Score) Tameyuki Aimi - Makeup Chihako Naito - Makeup Shohichiro Ueda - Makeup Noriko Takamizawa - Makeup Yoshiro Muraki - Production Designer Shinobu Muraki - Production Designer Masaharu Ueda - Cinematographer Takao Saito - Cinematographer Asakazu Nakai - Cinematographer Masato Hara - Producer Serge Silberman - Producer Yasuyoshi Ototake - Set Designer Yoshiro Tonsho - Set Designer Tsuneo Shimura - Set Designer Mitsuyuki Kimura - Set Designer Jiro Hirai - Set Designer Masato Ide - Screenwriter Akira Kurosawa - Screenwriter Hideo Oguni - Screenwriter William Shakespeare - Play Author

Ran
Overwhelming in scope and magnificent in visual style, Ran is less an adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear than an amplification of its themes of greed, betrayal, and honor. Though set during the turbulent Muromachi period in Japan, the film achieves a surprising universality by perfectly marrying style and content. Master director Akira Kurosawa distilled the play and stripped it of its numerous lengthy speeches (Kurosawa accused Shakespeare of being too wordy). In their stead, he packed the film with images pregnant with resonance and visual poetry. Deftly employing all of the techniques associated with his long career, Kurosawa creates a powerful portrayal of a kingdom coming apart at the seams through such techniques as dynamic, painterly compositions that emphasize depth of field; striking, expressionistic color; and brilliant sound design. In one scene, Kurosawa confronts the viewer with a silent, dream-like montage of human brutality: concubines committing ritual suicide, soldiers porcupined with arrows, spilling blood, and grisly dismembered limbs. In that same scene, the ghost-like Hidetora, Kurosawa's Lear, witnesses the armies of his two sons, one bedecked in brilliant yellow, the other in equally vibrant red, clash on the black slopes of Mount Fuji. Few films have imbued battle sequences with such beauty and with such horror. Tatsuya Nakadai gives perhaps the finest performance of his long career as the former vainglorious tyrant who slowly fills with shame and regret as his world comes crashing down, while Mieko Harada is flawlessly ruthless as the revenge seeking Lady Kaede. A brilliant cinematic feast ten years in the making, Ran proved to be the last masterwork by one of the greatest filmmakers. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
 

Akira Kurosawa: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Director (nominated) Akira Kurosawa: National Board of Review, Best Director (winner) Asakazu Nakai: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Cinematography (nominated) Chihako Naito: British Academy of Film and Television, Makeup Award (winner) Emi Wada: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Costume Design (winner) Emi Wada: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Costume Design (nominated) Hideo Oguni: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Adaptation (nominated) Masaharu Ueda: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Cinematography (nominated) Masaharu Ueda: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Cinematography (nominated) Masato Ide: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Adaptation (nominated) Shinobu Muraki: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Art Direction (nominated) Shinobu Muraki: British Academy of Film and Television, Best Production Design (nominated) Takao Saito: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Cinematography (nominated) Tameyuki Aimi: British Academy of Film and Television, Makeup Award (winner) Toru Takemitsu: Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Best Music Score (winner) Yoshiro Muraki: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Art Direction (nominated)

British Academy of Film and Television, Best Foreign Language Film (winner) Independent Spirit Awards, Best Foreign Film (nominated) Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Best Foreign Film (winner) National Board of Review, Best Foreign Film (winner) New York Film Critics Circle, Best Foreign Film (winner)

General Specifications: Language Options: Japanese Subtitle Options: English Sound Processing: DD2: Dolby Digital Stereo Additional Features: New, restored high-definition digital transfer Audio commentary by film scholar Stephen Prince An appreciation of the film by director Sidney Lumet Theatrical trailers New and improved English subtitle translation A.K., a 74-minute film by director Chris Marker A 30-minute documentary on the making of Ran, part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create A 35-minute video piece reconstructing Ran through Kurosawa's paintings and sketches, created as part of the series Image: Kurosawa's Continuity New video interview with actor Tatsuya Nakadai Plus: a 28-page booklet featuring film critic Michael Wilmington and interviews with Kurosawa and composer Toru Takemitsu DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1: Theatre Wide-Screen MPAA Rating: R DVD Discs Included: 2 DVD Sides: 2 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 160 min   DVD Chapters: Disc #1 -- Ran: The Film 1. Boar Hunt [9:05] 2. A Dream [3:06] 3. Hidetora Steps Aside [9:38] 4. Banished [3:40] 5. Lord Taro [4:57] 6. "A Gourd in the Wind" [8:22] 7. Jiro's Plan [2:43] 8. Betrayed Again [8:22] 9. The Truth [9:32] 10. Lord Jiro [16:11] 11. Tsurumaru [10:02] 12. Lady Kaede [12:51] 13. Saburo Is Needed [5:22] 14. "Bring Back the Head" [9:33] 15. "Don't Crush Me" [4:54] 16. A Message From Saburo [5:47] 17. Lost [3:08] 18. War Awaits [5:21] 19. Found [9:17] 20. Jiro Attacks [6:01] 21. Father and Son [5:04] 22. The House of Ichimonji Falls [5:55] 23. End Credits [3:33] 1. Establishing Hidetora/The Fool [9:05] 2. Noh Style/Kurosawa's Fears [3:06] 3. Historical Sources [9:38] 4. Visual Motifs [3:40] 5. Lady Kaede [4:57] 6. Machinations [8:22] 7. Jiro [2:43] 8. Buddhism/Hidetora's Demise [8:22] 9. Abstracted Action/Class Warfare [9:32] 10. Hell [16:11] 11. Noh and Shakespeare/Shooting Methods [10:02] 12. Performance High Point [12:51] 13. A Distant Point of View [5:22] 14. Kyoami's Role/A Woman's Rage [9:33] 15. An Old Artist/Didacticism [4:54] 16. Technique [5:47] 17. Disintegration of Narrative [3:08] 18. Epic Filmmaking/Pure Pessimism [5:21] 19. Oversize Performances [9:17] 20. Modern-World Parallels/Photographic Realism [6:01] 21. Distance/Didacticism [5:04] 22. Kurogane [5:55] 23. Summary Statement [3:33] Disc #2 -- Ran: The Supplements 1. Watching Akira Kurosawa [7:11] 2. Preparations [6:20] 3. Scene 52 [5:11] 4. Battle [4:51] 5. Patience [1:15] 6. Faithfulness [6:27] 7. Speed [4:06] 8. Horses [5:59] 9. Lacquer and Gold [5:01] 10. Horror [4:42] 11. Fire [7:05] 12. Fog [5:26] 13. Chaos [10:53] 1. Kurosawa's Passion [6:11] 2. Makeup [2:22] 3. The Burning Scale [9:44] 4. Kaede's Seduction [3:40] 5. Lady Sue's head [2:54] 6. An Inner Storm [2:05] 7. The Summation of a Life's Work [2:55] 1. Boar Hunt [3:25] 2. Hidetora Steps Aside [4:57] 3. Banished [:49] 4. Lord Taro [2:04] 5. "A Gourd in the Wind" [:44] 6. Jiro's Plan [:46] 7. Betrayed Again [3:59] 8. Lord Jiro [5:13] 9. The Storm/Tsurumaru [3:11] 10. Lady Kaede [:39] 11. Saburo Is Needed [1:53] 12. A Message From Saburo [1:19] 13. Lost [:33] 14. War Awaits [4:03] 15. Father and Son [2:22]