Ran

I know that I haven’t seen THAT many films. But I’ve seen a pretty good amount compared to many other people. When I watch a movie I look forward to being thrown into a whole new world that I’ve never experienced/seen before. Something that happens when you first get into film is that you get absolutely blown away by your first few watches of your favorite films. I try to look for that over and over again, almost like an addict. I watch movies to experience that once more and I watch movies to try and beat that experience. I know that I rate many films 5 stars but honestly I rarely find that feeling once more. I have a few times, but it seems rare nowadays for me. But when I watched this, I got it. It all came rushing back to me like some sort of memory. I take too many breaks from my passion, something I shouldn’t be doing. I love films and this is why, I was transported to an unfamiliar world that I’ve never seen before, and I experienced something that I’ve been searching for since I first felt it. Watching this film very truly felt like I was back a few years ago watching fight club for the first time, or Shawshank redemption for the first time. This felt like this was my first time ever watching a colored film, and I know that sounds weird but hear me out. Kurosawa has a very limited filmography featuring color, he’s mainly just black and white. But this film felt like he payed attention to every single shade of color that was used in every single scene. I can just see him, making sure those red flags clashed just perfectly with the blue/yellow flags and the dark dirt and the color of the horses. Kurosawa truly made sure he used this medium he was given to the highest he could have done. Masterful filmmaking. This movie made my stomach hurt, those sequences of brutal war violence was genuinely so gut wrenching, with the horses all riding in with the red flags just massacring everyone. Truly horrific, but the music was so beautifully composed and the colors and cinematography was stunning. One of those moments that is so horrific yet somehow so beautiful/beautifully made.