Events

Come see Ran presented with 35mm Projection on the big screen in L3!

"Most directors,” Francis Ford Coppola once remarked, “have one film for which they are known or possibly two. Akira Kurosawa has eight or nine.” I challenge anyone to dispute Coppola’s statement: by 1985 - the year of Ran’s release - the then-75-year-old director had directed such cinematic wonders as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, and High and Low. However, Ran, in my opinion, is Kurosawa’s very best. An adaptation of King Lear, Kurosawa did not initially notice the parallels; the fact that Kurosawa accidentally echoed the world’s greatest storytelling genius speaks volumes about his own ability. Indeed, as Great Lord Hidetora decides to divide rulership of his kingdom between his three sons, he catalyses a desperate conflict for absolute power that shatters his family and kingdom in the process. ‘Ran’ translates to ‘chaos’ in English, and nobody has captured such as potently as Kurosawa; the battle sequences in Ran are among the most impressive in cinema, transmitting the full horror of war through twisted spectacle. Ran is also a defining masterpiece for its lead actor Tatsuya Nakadai, which is quite a claim when considering Nakadai’s numerous acclaimed works with director Masaki Kobayashi; Nakadai’s visual and psychological decay across the film is haunting to watch, transforming Hidetora into a reprehensible and - almost - sympathetic figure. Ran stands out as one of Kurosawa’s most nihilistic films, making it a tough, often devastating watch, yet it represents a director - unlike its protagonist - having so much more to give in old age, and what he offers is perhaps the greatest work of Japanese cinema. Such a masterwork will look astonishing on the big screen, especially on a 35mm print professionally restored for the film’s 40th anniversary re-release, for an experience as close as you can get to those who first watched Ran in 1985.  [Sam Ripley]

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