MOVIES : RAN
Saw this last monday on DVD. HMV are currently selling a bunch of 'World Movies' for a reasonable price, I saw this and got it. I have wanted to see it for a while, I seem to remember my Dad seeing it when I was a kid, and I am a big Akira Kurosawa fan. Mind you, Mark informs me that he tried to get me to see it and I refused, so maybe I'm just bluffing...
Anyway, it's supposed to by Kurosawa's take on King Lear, and this can not be denied. The first third or so is a literal transfer of the original play; princes substituted for princesses, but little else different. I actually preferred Kurosawa's rendition of "Cordelia's" rejection of his father's will; it's braisen youth would have pissed off a weary, stubborn man but did show a strong affection by the son for his father.
After Lear is rejected by his second son everything starts to change, rapidly, from the original inspiration. It loses the human quality that Shakespeare had; the gentle loving of all those around the king for a man who continues to reject them, the loss and gain of sanity as different characters are variously loved and rejected, the investigation of age and aging (actually it did have a bit of this).
Instead it turns into a 'Macbeth' of sorts, with power hungry men being manipulated into horrendous acts by vengeful women, justaposed with the ever more frail Lear running around the landscape losing all contact with humanity and humans. Because of this inhumanity, this death of Lear's soul, I found it very hard to connect with his character, and just wanted to get back to the backstabbing brothers and their rivalries.
There were some nice bits charting the destruction of Lear, stumbling upon the hut of a victim of his was nice (especially the fantastic flute piece), and then wandering madly around a castle he had destroyed. Of course he rediscovers his love of 'Cordelia' only to have that stripped away.
So, all in all, I didn't mind it. Maybe somewhat long at 2.5 hours, somewhat epic as Mark said, though I think he meant it in a different way :) It just didn't have the emotional or human aspect I was looking for; it was largely about backstabbing brothers and an old man going insane cos of the naughty stuff he did when he was a young-un.
Anyway, it's supposed to by Kurosawa's take on King Lear, and this can not be denied. The first third or so is a literal transfer of the original play; princes substituted for princesses, but little else different. I actually preferred Kurosawa's rendition of "Cordelia's" rejection of his father's will; it's braisen youth would have pissed off a weary, stubborn man but did show a strong affection by the son for his father.
After Lear is rejected by his second son everything starts to change, rapidly, from the original inspiration. It loses the human quality that Shakespeare had; the gentle loving of all those around the king for a man who continues to reject them, the loss and gain of sanity as different characters are variously loved and rejected, the investigation of age and aging (actually it did have a bit of this).
Instead it turns into a 'Macbeth' of sorts, with power hungry men being manipulated into horrendous acts by vengeful women, justaposed with the ever more frail Lear running around the landscape losing all contact with humanity and humans. Because of this inhumanity, this death of Lear's soul, I found it very hard to connect with his character, and just wanted to get back to the backstabbing brothers and their rivalries.
There were some nice bits charting the destruction of Lear, stumbling upon the hut of a victim of his was nice (especially the fantastic flute piece), and then wandering madly around a castle he had destroyed. Of course he rediscovers his love of 'Cordelia' only to have that stripped away.
So, all in all, I didn't mind it. Maybe somewhat long at 2.5 hours, somewhat epic as Mark said, though I think he meant it in a different way :) It just didn't have the emotional or human aspect I was looking for; it was largely about backstabbing brothers and an old man going insane cos of the naughty stuff he did when he was a young-un.
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