Ran

Just saw it on the big screen and I’m going to be honest: I realized this movie is way better than I even initially thought. It was so mindblowingly good I refused to go to the bathroom to pee for basically the whole movie because I was THAT invested. So before you’re reading this review of mine further, a little disclaimer beforehand: I’m going to be REALLYYYYY pretentious and philosophical from now. So if that’s not your thing or think it’s cringe leave now. Okay so obviously everyone loves Ran for its use of color including me (as you can read in my first review of it) but the use of color goes wayyyyyyy deeper than it just looking really pretty and differentiating the different armies we see. Allow me to explain. Ran uses color to show how colors bring beauty to the world but also how it leads to the world constantly clashing with itself. Kurosawa’s previous time-periods (except for Kagemusha) were all shot in black and white, and whether the technology for colorfilm was present back then or not, narratively it makes sense for all of them. “Black and white” is obviously symbolism for plain good vs plain evil. In Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Throne of Blood etc. despite some grey morality here and there all have very clear good and bad sides. Ran having color isn’t just realistic for the fact that we see colors, but more so because it fits with the story’s theme of how either showing preferences OR on the other side; being unbiased or acting as blank canvas to people both lead to pain. It’s a battle none of us can win essentially. (Side note: a movie that understands this principle really well is La Haine. It’s purposefully black and white because it shows how superficial the characters stance on morality and the world itself is. It’s not just black and white to look artsy.) I have this weird thing where I associate everyone I know with one or multiple colors in my head and what’s interesting about that is that people I get along with less well (but still respect of course) often share the same colors and those being not my favorite colors as well. I can see their good qualities as persons but I’m also of the opinion that those qualities come with bad ones as well. Ran is full of those ironies and paradoxes. Lord Hidetora thought he found wisdom, but in a world that doesn’t provide absolute answers, claiming you found wisdom is essentially just taking a more calculated gamble. In this case Hidetora quickly finds out he took a wrong gamble. Taro keeps being thrusting as a leader, but it only opened him up for being used and getting shot from the back afterwards. Jiro adopts this Machiavellian style of leadership which proves very effective, but when his true love gets killed before his eyes he can only ask himself if the means justified the ends. (It’s why the framing of the shot looking like HE got hit is genius by the way) Saburo acts very ungrateful and disobedient towards his father but it was very realistic advice he gave him as we find out. The fact his dad tells him at the beginning he loved him as a son the most adds up. Sometimes genuine concern and love is expressed by harshness… Kaede is a woman that cleverly tries to climb the ranks as a woman in a world where women don’t get any freedom or control whatsoever. But she also requests her new husband Jiro to execute his previous wife. Women bringing other women down. Not exactly my definition of feminism… And other examples are the lords betraying Hidetora for the better good but afterwards getting banished because they’ve proven they can’t be trusted and Jiro’s captain refusing to execute a woman because he feels like it’s unethical and goes against his values but then gets labeled as disloyal. Perhaps the biggest irony of Ran is that of all the characters in the movie, the jester is actually the most sensible. The famous line “In a mad world only the mad are sane” perfectly sums up the movie’s theme. What does “being normal” even mean? If “being normal” means being open and fully unbiased towards everyone, it only results in practically pleasing nobody and not having your own identity. You’re presenting yourself as a blank slate. Open to every possibility but no own personality to speak of. So sticking to yourself and your own values basically means you’re “crazy” to other people. You let your own colors shine but other people that don’t share this color can’t relate to you. The reality is that pretty much every person on earth does this and everyone that doesn’t do this naturally feels unhappy. You’re “sane” for being “mad”. So that’s why the jester replying to the comment “I’m lost” with “Such is the human condition” is really genius. No matter what we do or say, it never seems to truly solve it all. Kurosawa’s most colorful film is the most morally grey out of all of them. Pure poetry. So is Kurosawa just saying everything and everyone sucks and there’s no way we can solve any of it? Luckily not. His solution can be found in the final shot of the film: a scroll of Buddha. Buddhism is coming to terms with the idea that life is suffering and trying to find inner peace with that idea. It’s starts with appreciation. The first thing Hidetora does after “getting mad” is plucking flowers. He doesn’t even properly look at what kind of flowers he’s picking. He just sees one that he likes and plucks it from the ground with a smile. No preference. No deeper thought. Just pure appreciation of what he sees before him. And I think that’s exactly what WE should do. Let go of your own preferences but also let go of other peoples preferences. Go mad and pluck some flowers. Okay I think that’s enough philosophical yapping from me. Ran is good. Bye ✌️