Streaming Sleepers: Akira Kurosawa’s RAN Hails One Of The Best To Ever Do It
I’ll be diving a little more into Japanese period films for a while, and for that matter, I thought I’d turn to Akira Kurosawa’s Ran which is among the innumerable jidaigeki and samurai films you can presently find online and stream for free with ads.
Directed from a script co-written with Hideo Oguni and Masato Ide, Kurosawa’s ode to “King Lear” chronicles the sprawling saga and fall of the house of Ichimonji. When elderly warlord Hidetora decides to split his kingdom between his three sons, it creates a power vacuum that amplifies warring differences and divisions among the brothers and in-laws, seething with underlying and vengeful intent. What follows is a fight for usurped power among the siblings, their wives, and their vassals, resulting in Hidetora’s explosive exile into madness, a bittersweet reunion, and imminent tragedy.
I actually tried watching this film several years back, but I stopped long before I could get into it because of how long this movie is – two hours and forty minutes. That makes Ran a film you certainly need to set aside time for with nothing to intercede in your moviegoing experience.
The movie was Kurosawa’s most expensive film, and was his last epic before making three more films to wind down his career. It brims with amazing perfomances, massive set pieces, and amazing battle sequences, carried by cast with a leading man in actor Tatsuya Nakadai who leaves his mark as one of the most memorable tributes to Shakespeare yet.
The film also hails captivating performances by Mieko Harada in a gripping portrayal of Lady Kaede, and Shinnosuke Ikehata – a.k.a. Pita, as Hidetora’s resident jester, Kyoami. Fiery war scenes make way for a massive body count as the film winds down to its bloody conclusion, tied to themes centric on mankind’s cyclically violent nature, and a cameo of Buddha to top off the film’s spiritual message.
My only gripe is that I don’t have this on disc. With any luck and maybe some donations to my Buy Me A Coffee page, I can hopefully change that. In the meantime, Ran is ripe for the taking if streaming is your thing.
Stream Ran on Tubi, or head over to JustWatch for all available legal streaming options. The film is also playing in select theaters as of this article, in celebration of its 40th anniversary, from Rialto Pictures.
