Ran
There are filmmakers. There are great filmmakers. And then there is Akira Kurosawa. RAN is his masterpiece, which is saying something almost incomprehensible, because his filmography is masterpieces. Armies of colour-coded samurai clash across burning castles while the soundtrack goes completely, hauntingly silent. No triumphant score. Just chaos. Just consequence. Kurosawa understood that real chaos has no music. The story, a Japanese reworking of King Lear, is tragedy at its purest. Lord Hidetora, played by one of the greatest Asian actors of all time, Tatsuya Nakadai, dismantles his own empire and watches his sons tear each other apart. It is a film about pride, power, and the cruelty of living long enough to see everything you built become ash. And the colour, (excuse me for my language mom) but the fucking colour literally felt like I was watching the Mona Lisa getting painted. Every single frame looks like it’s been created by god. Kurosawa storyboarded every single shot in watercolour before a camera rolled, and it shows. This is a vision executed with total. precision and total confidence. This film is going straight into my top 4. No hesitation. If you haven’t watched RAN, please do watch it. If you do happen do watch it and for some reason you don’t like the film, you really need to get your eyes checked because it’s not possible to not love this film.
P.S: For people who have seen it, can we talk about how Kurogane is the biggest rage-baiter of all time?