Ran

RAN means chaos, and expressing chaos and war artistically can be incredibly difficult, but Kurosawa does it perfectly, creating a symbolic, gorgeous, breathtaking epic masterpiece. Ran is a film that’s been on my watchlist for ages. It’s also quite long, and I finally watched it, and damn, was it worth the time. It’s an adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear, and although I haven’t read it, it’s my understanding that Kurosawa changes some details. There are countless things to talk about with this film, and one of the most common topics is the visuals and the use of color, and for a good reason. They’re absolutely stunning. In fact, they might just be some of the most beautiful visuals ever in the history of cinema, easily in the top five. But what I really want to talk about is the ending, especially that final shot. (SPOILERS!) The last shot is one of the greatest in the history cinema. We see Tsurumaru walking alone before he drops a scroll of the Buddha. It might sound simple, but it’s a masterful, symbolic ending, and it's the perfect way to close an epic masterpiece like Ran. The symbolism is clear: we live in a world consumed by the evil of man, by greed, violence, and cruelty. Humanity is so overwhelmed by its own evil that it’s as there is no God. We live in a world overtaken by chaos, we live in a world overtaken by RAN. 5/5⭐