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"One of the most exquisite spectacles ever made." Rialto Pictures has unveiled a new trailer for the 40th anniversary re-release of the Japanese medieval epic called Ran, one of the final films made by Japanese master Akira Kurosawa. Ran originally premiered and hit theaters in 1985, playing at the Tokyo, San Sebastian, and New York Film Festivals. Now it will debut again in theaters as a 4K restoration starting in May - playing at art house cinemas during the summer. "A grand and visually breathtaking reimagining of Shakespeare’s King Lear, Ran explores themes of power, betrayal & the devastating consequences of human folly. Set against the backdrop of feudal Japan, Kurosawa employs sweeping landscapes, intricate battle sequences, and vivid color symbolism to create a world teetering on the edge of chaos." Ran considers the disastrous consequences of Lord Hidetora Ichimonji’s decision to split his kingdom among his three sons. Starring Tatsuya Nakadai,...

“Kagemusha” is one of the best films Akira Kurosawa ever shot and is considered one of the definite masterpieces of world cinema. However, its production was one of the most difficult accomplishments in the master's filmography. Initially, the film was not considered financially viable, and it took the influence of both George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola to get additional funds for it to be completed, since Toho, the initial production company, had given up on the film. However, the problems continued during the shooting, with probably the most significant being that Kurosawa had to replace Shintaro Katsu, who was originally cast as Takeda Shingen, with Tatsuya Nakadai, after the two of them had a falling out. The production faced many additional problems, but Kurosawa eventually managed to complete the movie, with its premiere taking place in Tokyo. His struggles, however, paid off, since “Kagemusha” was a huge hit both critically and financially.

Akira Kurosawa's Ran (1985) and Chris Marker's A.K. (1985) are showing April and May, 2020 on Mubi in the United Kingdom in the series In Front and Behind the Scenes: Kurosawa & Marker.“It is King Lear, yet it is not King Lear.” This statement, made by Chris Marker during the course of his 1985 documentary, A.K., which records the making of Akira Kurosawa’s Ran, is a noteworthy point when discussing the venerated Japanese master’s 1985 epic, as preliminary conversation concerning the film often centers on the seeds of influence found in the Bard’s 17th century drama. But while that story only entered Kurosawa’s mind after he had already conceived of Ran in the mid-1970s, he also drew inspiration, arguably more significant, from a parable about Mōri Motonari. In that account, the Sengoku-period warlord also had three children—three sons—who were admirably loyal to their father. Kurosawa took...

Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryû, Mieko Harada, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Hisashi Igawa, Masayuki Yui, Kazuo Katô, Norio Matsui | Written by Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Masato Ide | Directed by Akira Kurosawa

When aging warlord Hidetori Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai) decides it is time for him to retire, he divides the lands he rules between his three sons. This causes a bitter power struggle between his eldest sons, and his youngest being banished for his warning of the impending doom. As the reality of retirement his Ichimonji war breaks out, with the banished son being the only one who could possibly save his father from the warring brothers.

Ran starts off showing the epic landscape of Japan, teasing at what to expect from the film, and this location is used to full effect in the film. There are many huge battles that feel truly impressive, but the real magic is...

Staggering battle sequences, thrones of blood and the spirit of Macbeth are abroad in one of the greatest screen adaptations of Shakespeare

The re-release of Akira Kurosawa’s 1985 epic Ran (the word means “chaos”) is an opportunity to see this stunning free transformation of King Lear, one of the great screen adaptations of Shakespeare. Perhaps it was the defamiliarising effect of Kurosawa’s film which, for me, opened up the meaning of Lear: a kind of human arrogance and self-importance which, in the face of mortality, needs to believe the world will be a divided and diminished thing when we are gone.

As well as Lear, Ran draws on the dark spirit of Macbeth, with its images of a scheming wife, a throne of blood and massed soldiery: fatally misleading and ominous, as in Dunsinane. After a lifetime of brutal rule, ageing feudal lord Hidetora (Tatsuya Nakadai) tells his three...

Staggering battle sequences, thrones of blood and the spirit of Macbeth are abroad in one of the greatest screen adaptations of Shakespeare

The re-release of Akira Kurosawa’s 1985 epic Ran (the word means “chaos”) is an opportunity to see this stunning free transformation of King Lear, one of the great screen adaptations of Shakespeare. Perhaps it was the defamiliarising effect of Kurosawa’s film which, for me, opened up the meaning of Lear: a kind of human arrogance and self-importance which, in the face of mortality, needs to believe the world will be a divided and diminished thing when we are gone.

As well as Lear, Ran draws on the dark spirit of Macbeth, with its images of a scheming wife, a throne of blood and massed soldiery: fatally misleading and ominous, as in Dunsinane. After a lifetime of brutal rule, ageing feudal lord Hidetora (Tatsuya Nakadai) tells his three...

Chicago – Of all the cinematic variations on Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” Akira Kurosawa’s “Ran” is one of the few that, dare I say, improves on the Bard’s original blueprint.

Rating: 5.0/5.0

Kurosawa’s vision of Lear is not merely that of an aging warlord undone by his own foolishness, but a ruthless warrior haunted by the countless lives he destroyed during his reign. His fate is anything but undeserved, and seems inspired by classic tragedies more Greek than Shakespearian.

“Ran” may be a devastating experience, but it also proves to be an uplifting one for anyone moved by watching a master filmmaker in peak form. It was an extraordinary triumph for the seventy-five-year-old Kurosawa, battling near-blindness in order to see his decade-old dream project through to its completion.

After a series of professional and personal setbacks, the filmmaker was widely considered to be washed-up, and “Ran” did not receive...