Ran

Had the privilege of seeing this in the 4k restoration screening at the Film Forum. Unreal experience. The film is breathtaking. The choice of color is entrancing, the sheer spectacle is jaw dropping, the framing of some of these shots should be hung in a museum frankly, they’re that affecting. Kurosawa takes a Shakespeare tale and tells it in a way that he only possibly can. It reflects on a different culture than Shakespeare was working with, allowing Kurosawa to weave his own cultural identity, but they certainly share an interest in exploring the human condition. Though I think while Shakespeare has a penchant to dive a bit further into the romanticism of the “tragedy”, Kurosawa is much more interested in the banality, the vanity. And he certainly captures that.  A deeply cerebral film, with an unforgettable display. The hype is real.