Akira Kurosawa Japan/France 1985 Digital 160 minutes
Rated 12A –Â Contains moderate bloody violence
Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryu, Mieko Harada.
Akira Kurosawa’s astonishing medieval epic, a loose adaptation of King Lear set amid the civil war of 16th century Japan, makes a welcome return to the big screen in a dazzling digital restoration.
Inspired by the life of Mori Motonari, a warlord who ends up relinquishing his crown to his three conniving sons, Ran is widely regarded as Kurosawa’s final epic masterpiece, and was the most expensive Japanese movie of all time on its release.
The Shakespearean tragedy is re-imagined as one of the most visually arresting war films ever put on screen, its balletic beauty climaxing with a silent battle scene, set to Toru Takemitsu’s funereal score, which has to be seen to be believed.
