There comes a moment late in Akira Kurosawa’s final epic, 1985’s “Ran,” when audiences might forget that the directing great took inspiration for his saga of fealty and folly from Shakespeare’s “King Lear.”
And in that temporary amnesia, we might even begin to hope all will end better than it has been going since Lord Hidetora Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai) passed his kingdom to eldest son Taro (Akira Terao) and angered his other sons, Jiro (Jinpachi Nezu) and Saburo (Daisuke Ryu).
No such luck.
“Ran,” which in Japanese can mean “chaos,” is a vivid, violent, emotionally stark work. Kurosawa flipped the story of 16th-century warlord Montonari Mori — whose sons were famous for their devotion — on its head to see what dark places he would find.
The film, which opens today at the Starz FilmCenter, begins on a grassy bluff. After a vigorous boar hunt, the graying leader listens as two rival lords offer their daughters for youngest son Saburo to wed.
Midway through negotiations, he dozes. It’s strange behavior, rude even, but then, he is the Great Lord, the man who by battle and cruelty united a region. Deference must be paid, even if it is false.
In a gesture contrary to the tone Saburo otherwise strikes with his father, he cuts some sapling branches and plants them in the ground to protect his father from the sun. And the exquisite delicacy of the move is one of the few instances of sentiment in “Ran.”
One of Ichimonji’s tragic flaws is his increasing inability to distinguish the genuine from the flattering until it’s too late. Soon Saburo is banished. So, too, is Tango, a trusted adviser.
Disaster comes in the form of Lady Kaede, wife of Taro. Played by the brilliantly chilling Mieko Harada, she puts Lady Macbeth to shame.
Her counterpoint in every way is gentle, devout Lady Sue (Yoshiko Miyazaki).
What “Ran” lacks in sentiment it makes up for in a high theatricality. As the haunted lord, Nakadai looks like he’s in a Noh play. Transvestite performer Peter turns it up as the fool Kyoami, acting out the debacle’s grand themes.
“Ran” contains astounding set pieces. Lady Kaede’s seduction of Jiro is jaw-dropping. And the battle sequences should humble many modern-day directors of mayhem. There is a 6-minute assault on the castle where Ichimonji is trapped.
Kurosawa’s use of three cameras adds to the brimstone hell of the chaos. Smoke fills the screen, clears and wafts in again. Arrows zing and find their targets in the flesh of loyal soldiers. Concubines commit urgent suicide. It’s scored with a potent mix of silence and composer Toru Takemitsu’s weighty, blue notes.
“Ran” has been restored and is making its way across the United States in a fresh 35mm print.
The Denver Film Society will screen it as a high-definition, digital presentation.
To these eyes, the hi-def’s colors are vivid, but there’s a visual edge that left me wondering how much warmer the 35mm print is. Even so, it’s easy to advise a film aficionado: Run, don’t walk, to “Ran.”
“RAN.”
R for violence. 2 hours, 42 minutes. Directed by Akira Kurosawa; written by Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Masato Ide; photography by Takao Saito, Masaharu Ueda and Asakazu Nakai; starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryu, Mieko Harada, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Masayuki Yui and Peter. In Japanese with English subtitles Opens today at the Starz FilmCenter.
