Ran is one of Kurosawa’s
masterpieces, along with Yojimbo
and Rashomon. The
second time I viewed the film I realized how much I had completely overlooked
on the first viewing!
Ran means “chaos” in Japanese, and
that is definitely the theme of the film. It all results from when seventy-year
old warlord Hidetora must pass on his position. But flattery, senility and
blindness lead him astray in his choice of whom to bestow this honor upon. As a
result…chaos (Ran), a high point being its surrealistic battle scenes.
Of all the Japanese films I’ve seen (not a whole heck of a lot), Ran is one of the best. That’s not demeaning it in any way that I haven’t seen many Japanese films though, because Ran is one of the most popular foreign films ever. It deserves at least one viewing with any film buff, and perhaps a place in one’s own collection (such as my own).
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Quotes from Ran:
Saburo: Men prefer sorrow over joy... suffering over peace!
Hidetora: The Great Lord goes nowhere alone.
Jiro: You renounced your power. You have no need of an escort.
Hidetora: Only the birds and the beasts live in solitude.
Kyoami: Why stay with this mad old man? If the rock you stay on starts to roll, jump clean. Or you'll go with it and be squashed. Only a fool stays aboard.
Kyoami: A serpent's egg is white and pure. A bird's is speckled and soiled.
Hidetora: This is a castle... Here's a wall.
Kyoami: The bird left the speckled egg for the white.
Hidetora: Strange...
Kyoami: The egg cracks; out comes a snake.
Hidetora: Empty space above the wall. Why?
Kyoami: The bird is gobbled by the snake.
Hidetora: Where am I? Who am I?
Kyoami: Stupid bird!
Kurogane: Saburo is not our only enemy.
Jiro: So what? If they attack, we retaliate. We grab their land and enlarge our own.
Kurogane: Fine words, but words don't win wars.
Cast
overview, first billed only:
Tatsuya Nakadai .... Lord Hidetora Ichimonji
Akira Terao .... Taro Takatora Ichimonji
Jinpachi Nezu .... Jiro Masatora Ichimonji
Daisuke Ryu .... Saburo Naotora Ichimonji
Mieko Harada .... Lady Kaede
Yoshiko Miyazaki .... Lady Sue
Masayuki Yui .... Tango Hirayama
Kazuo Kato .... Kageyu Ikoma
Peter .... Kyoami
Hitoshi Ueki .... Nobuhiro Fujimaki
Jun Tazaki .... Seiji Ayabe
Norio Matsui .... Shumenosuke Ogura
Hisashi Igawa .... Shuri Kurogane
Kenji Kodama .... Samon Shirane
Toshiya Ito .... Mondo Naganuma
