Ran
Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Japan. 1985. NR. 162 min.
- Sun, Sep 26, 5:30 pm
Presented on 35mm.
Kurosawa has said that Kagemusha (1980) was a dry run for Ran. According to him, this was a way of spreading the costs of costumes and props across the two films. He created storyboards for every shot in Ran over a period of ten years. The story was loosely based on Shakespeare’s King Lear, but it also has roots in Samurai legend. This is often considered to be Kurosawa’s greatest achievement as a filmmaker and it is indeed storytelling on a grand scale. By the time photography for this picture began, Kurosawa’s eyesight had become so bad he had to frame shots with the help of assistants, using his paintings as guidance. And so, like Beethoven composing without his hearing, Kurosawa never saw his own greatest masterpiece. (Ted The Fiddler)