Ran

After watching this film, I was left staring at the credits simply trying to process the sheer scale of it. An incredibly heavy movie, not only from the tragedy of it's adaption source King Lear, but because Kurosawa makes you feel the fragility of human life and the loop of chaos that we live in. Every single frame is a masterpiece of composition and movement. The colour blocking is iconic, turning the clashing armies consisting of red, white, and blues against the lush emerald plains. The siege on the third castle left me utterly speechless and in awe. Tōru Takemitsu's devastating score elevates the battle scene into a surreal display of despair. The contrasting use of a gunshot to invite the diegetic sound of the battleground to return was an extremely effective use of audio that shocked me out of my seat. Flawless.