Filmmaker reacts to Ran (1985) for the FIRST TIME!
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- Опубликовано: 6 сен 2024
- Hope you enjoy my filmmaker reaction to Ran. :D
Full length reactions & Patreon only polls: / jamesvscinema
Original Movie: Ran (1985)
Ending Song: / charleycoin
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This film is something to behold.
Want to vote on what I should watch next? Click here! www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema
DEADPOOL REWATCH Thursday! Enjoy the day!
_The Duellists_ (Ridley Scott, 1977)
Since you did _Barry Lyndon,_ check out Scott's 1977 debut - a masterpiece (better than _Lyndon_ ) historical Action/Drama with some of the best cinematography ever crafted. The things Ridley does with light...
So. The last frame on Tsurumaru is not that he is Buddha. He actually represents humanity, killing each other and blind to Enlightenment. In fact, the scene where his sister Sue says "the castle is there" but is blind to know the direction is symbolism of that. She is introduced having overcome hate. But in his first appearance, Tsurumaru is so full of hate that he cannot even pray.
Although I am not a Buddhist, I studied the religion enough to be familiar with some of the concepts and distinctions. The Buddhism practiced here is Pure Land Buddhism, one of whose core tenets is that if you pray at the time of death you will be reborn in a Great Western Land where you are fated to find enlightenment. But by dropping the icon, Tsurumaru cannot pray and cannot be reborn in that land.
_Dreams_ is a kind of thematic sequel to _Ran_ that answers some of the questions, or at least is a retort to the nihilism shown in this movie. It probably will not win any polls on Patreon. But it has a lot of experimental photography and early digital SFX. (It's also my favorite Kurosawa film and my 10th favorite film of all time.) And I encourage you to watch it at least on your own time.
(And although it was blasted as a self-indulgent environmentalist film, that theme is only incidental. It's actually an interesting window into Kurosawa's inner life and his thoughts regarding suicide, which he would have been culturally exposed to from a young age.)
@@bigneon_glitter barry lyndon is better.
Gotta watch seven samurai after this, consider one of the best movies ever made
This movie was so so boring.
Oh man. This is one o' the movies my family had on laserdisc while I was growing up.
"I once asked Akira Kurosawa why he had chosen to frame a shot in Ran in a particular way. His answer was that if he'd panned the camera one inch to the left, the Sony factory would be sitting there exposed, and if he'd panned an inch to the right, we would see the airport...."
-Sidney Lumet, Making Movies
That is hilarious.
Same thing with THE SEVENTH SEAL, where Bergman is shooting a medieval witch burning scene in a wooded area right behind a 20th century residential district.
Kurosawa is a legend for a reason. You've seen how he directs Shakespeare now. For mystery, Rashomon. Character study, Ikiru. With Yojimbo, he inadvertently redefined the Western. And with Seven Samurai, he basically invented the modern action adventure film, not to mention everything Spielberg has used in his career.
As well as George Lucas, The Hidden Fortress is basically a proto-Star Wars episode IV. :)
If I am correct - didn't Lucas and Spielberg help fund/produce Ran?
For those who want to watch some more Kurosawa, I HIGHLY recommend Yojimbo and Ikiru. High And Low is also good. Yojimbo is my favorite Kurosawa. There are like 5 other films of his that are tied for second place, but Yojimbo is freaking amazing.
@@SquigglyP I would have mentioned Stray Dog. Man, than movie makes me sweat just thinking about it.
Great list. I'd like to add High and Low, which is a great crime thriller.
Kurosawa was almost completely blind during the filming of this movie, so his cinematographer relied on paintings Kurosawa made to accurately portray his vision. Hence that is why a lot of the frames feel like actual paintings
Really excited to board the Kurosawa train! I recommend High & Low.
Wooo!
High and Low is amazing, I first heard of it from Every Frame a Painting. It's amazing!
_High & Low_ rules. Great film.
Great Kurosawa film
Tatsuya Nakadai, the king in Ran, also stars in High and Low. He’s excellent in both!
As much as I love Yojimbo, Ran will always be my favorite.
Every frame in this movie is a literal frame of panting, every ones performance from the actors and actresses is giving it their all, the battle sequences, it’s just amazing. The music is haunting and the imagery of the final shot will bring shivers down your spine.
This is one of Kurosawa personal yet darkest movie in terms of tone, During production Kurosawa was practically blind making this movie and had to rely on his cinematographer to see the movie, and many of his old collaborators during this time. Takashi Shimura, his longtime lead actor, died in 1982. Fumio Yamaguchi, his sound technican since the 1940s, collapsed on set and died shortly thereafter. And most tragically, Yoko Yaguchi, his wife of thirty-nine years, died during shooting, and Kurosawa only had one day to mourn for her death and gone back to filming the next day.
There’s a knowing sense of finality to this film like he was gathering his friends for one final journey.
The legend himself. Some of the best shots ever filmed.
James, this is based on Shakespeare's "King Lear", so it's meant to be told in a poetic way, but with a tragic end. One of the greatest film's ever made, and more Americans need to be exposed to good Eastern ol' school flicks
Kind of amazing that some of the best film adaptations of Shakespeare came from Japan
European and japanese cinema is best ....
Actually it's not based on King Lear but an old Japanese folktale. He simply and accidentally just adapted some of King Lear's storyline.
What I enjoy about Japanese cinema in general is they have 3 main characters... a protagonist, an antagonist, and the environment. Hollywood rarely treats the environment that way. When its done right, you can almost feel the breeze and smell the air.
The resistance to shoot close-ups in the film only to throw them in at the perfect moment is just brilliant. Gotta check out all the Kurosawa-Mifune collaborations too!
Probably the greatest director/actor partnership in film history, even above Scorsese/De Niro and Bergman/von Sydow
@@bencarlson4300 Its gotta be the best! The range of characters Kurosawa had Mifune play plus Mifune's ability to smash every role is unheard of
@@tylerkoch601 My favorite Mifune performance has to be in Throne of Blood. It’s WAY over the top, but it works in that movie because it honestly feels like a play more than a typical samurai film.
@@bencarlson4300 That one is exaclty how you put, expertly over the top. That final frame of Throne of Blood always blows me away. One of his more subtler performances I love is High and Low. That arc of his conflicted desires is such a great slow burn.
@@tylerkoch601 Same with The Bad Sleep Well, which is closer to the bottom than the top of Kurosawa for me, but it contains an outstanding subtle Mifune performance that is mostly just facial expressions
The plot is based on Shakespeare's, "King Lear".
Love your reactions to movies I've already seen, but your opening my eyes to movies I've never even heard of. Your community has such diverse tastes.
Ayyy this made me smile reading this!
A reply from the legend himself! Well that made my day, bro!
@@baby_boi123 Ok now that you got him smilin'... Dr. Strangelove! ( :
Get ready for Harold & Maude! We've got a GREAT community of interesting movie picks.
That's basicly Shakespear's "KIng Lear". Kurosawa loved adapting great pieces of literature into japanese settings. I myself love his "The Idiot" the most. But he's just great in everything he did.
if he likes this, he'll love Throne of Blood, which is just MacBeth
The interesting thing about Ran though is that it originally wasn't going to be based on King Lear. Rather, Kurosawa was inspired by Mōri Motonari and his three sons. Only after beginning to work on the script did he realize the similarities with Lear, but instead of pushing away those similarities, he embraced them.
This would be a great double feature with King Lear (1987) dir. by Jean-Luc Godard xD
Kurosawa never disappoint
Damn straight
Kurosawa is one of my fav directors. The first film i saw was Seven Samurai and was mesmerised. I went down a Kurasawa rabbit hole.
Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Hidden fortress, High and Low, Rashamon, Ikiru, Throne of Blood and Ran. They are all 10/10 for me. Glad Patreons got you to watch
Same my Kurosawa rabbit hole started in the 90’s and I owned Every single one of his films on VHS. Some were hard to find. Even had his frost sanshiro Sugata and Dersu Uzala.
"Seven Samurai" established him as a master film maker, and this is the the result of 30 years more experience... He's done lots of great films in different genres but, in my humble opinion, Seven Samurai is his most intense film with the best characters, story and the best direction I've ever seen (and imagery rivalling the best in RAN). Don't be surprised if you find yourself rewatching it regularly in awe...
Seven Samurai is amazing. My second favorite movie ever. First one: Das Boot.
Except that he made Rashomon and Ikiru before Seven Samurai. Those are what established him as a master. Seven Samurai made him one of the most influential filmmakers of all time.
a30:40 the reveal is something that is unique.
In stead of showing the head, the headless bodies are shown at their small home.
It's just one of many incredible details and ways to put focus on the person that is now dead.
No horror or shock in seeing the actual head, but a emotional reminder of what was lost, real people trying to live a quiet life.
I just checked the IMDB of the old lord and homeboy is still working at almost 90 years old.
Hope you’re doing fantastic man! I’m sorry I’ve been super annoying on the polls the last couple of weeks, always bringing up Tarkovsky and Kurosawa. I’m just so excited for you to board the Kurosawa train. I’ve been looking forward all week to this reaction and your thoughts on this masterpiece.
Hahaha no worries homie! Happy it finally won!
@@JamesVSCinema as am I! Now let’s see if we can get seven samurai to win 😈
Tarkovsky is a great choice. Keep bringing that up! Any of Tarkovsky's 7 films would be great.
@@JamesVSCinema Especially check out the Seven Samurai. Every film that has a gathering of heroes theme from Oceans 11 to the Blues Brothers is a reimagination of The Seven Samurai.
The shot where he's completely broken and walks down the stairs with the burning castle in the background is out of this world
Old Hidetora lived his life waging war and when he came to realize it was time to withdraw from direct leadership he thought he could pass it on to his sons, blind to what they had learned from him about ruthless power. The brother's conflicts with each other and with him spiraled out of control, leaving him isolated and lost while they turned on each other. This film has one of the most tragic and sad undertones that flows beneath it's epic, bloody disasters. It becomes like an avalanche of karma that buries everyone. Just a massively emotional journey of cinematic brilliance! In Japan they called Kurosawa the Emperor for a reason, not just because he was tall.
As some people have already pointed out, Kurosawa used to be an aspiring painter in his early years and you can definitely see how it influenced his sense for the composition of images throughout his career. This is not just true for his colour films, but also for his black-and-white films. All of the shots were deliberately staged to look beautiful and impactful in b/w, which is one of the reasons why these films still feel so timeless after all these years. Not to mention the great storylines and characters.
Ran is such an interesting choice as a first Kurasowa to watch. I'm so happy my patron vote got a reaction.
The most complete war movie ever. Everything story, emotions,acting,direction,sets,costumes etc mindbogling.
YO?? This film is amazing, but I never expected a reactor to get to it. Good stuff!
Hell yeah! Happy to have finally gotten to it!
I'm a HUGE fan of "Ran", which is probably the best movie I've ever seen. "Dreams", "Dersu Uzala", "Kagemusha", "Yojimbo" and of course, "The Seven Samurai" are also other Kurosawa must-sees. But now let me suggest another Asian film, this time a Chinese one, with a completely different vibe: "Hero" (2002) by Zhang Yimou. You'll be floored by the innovative narration technique with multiple layers of reality and imagination, truth and lies, the stunning cinematography, and especially the revolutionary use of color. A huge screen is highly recommended.
This was my first foreign film. I remember watching this with a friend shortly after i graduated HS in '86. Wow, it opened my eyes to starting to watch films not in my native language.
Ran's striking beauty directly influenced the very first "Total War" strategy game. The designer openly said they wanted the game to look like Ran.
This film's impact has reached other genres.
Most of Akira Kurosawa's filmography is in Black and White. And he really knows how to use it. The actor who played the Great Lord, I forget his name, started out with Kurosawa back in the 50's as a walk-through part in Seven Samurai, then he played the main baddie in both Yojimbo and Sanjuro, with Kurosawa's first huge blood spurt at the end, in the early 60's. In the U.S. of A., George Lucas used Kurosawa's perspective of the lowly peons in Hidden Fortress, to tell the story of Star Wars from the perspective of the droids R2D2 and C3PO, instead of the usual frame of royalty or social elites. He has admirers all over the world.
Kurosawa is… yeah. Watch everything he’s done.
Hahaha agreed!
I love that you bring up that the shots are focused on the backgrounds. Supposedly it symbolizes how small man actually is compared to nature, and that our wars are just fetile pettiness.
I *think* Hidetora commands that girl/princess to look at him with hate in her eyes, because he thought that must be what she holds in her heart, and he'd rather see that sincerity (because at least it'd honest) than the duplicity he feels both his sons and their subordinates have been treating him with. Hidetora was slowly realizing reality differs very coldly from the misconception he'd somehow fabricated in his mind about not only how his sons and heirs would behave after his time has ended, but ultimately the legacy he thought he was leaving behind in the wake of his reign.
It's also interesting how this story itself is fictional (iir, and is essentially King Lear), yet throughout actual Japanese feudal period history, you see events just like these, like shoguns who "retired" into becoming priests, probably seeking peace the way Hidetora incorrectly imagined he might here, successors fighting over their shares of their former ruler's conquered territory, wives who had been daughters or former wives of earlier conquests spending a lifetime plotting the ruler's destruction in vengeance.
The kanji Ran (乱) means "chaos" (which is incidentally the same "Ran" as in the name of the character Ranma from the famous anime series), and is just perfectly representative of what birthed this protagonist's achievements as well as what it immediately devolved back into after he stepped down.
"Every Frame a Painting" absolutely applies to Kurosawa. Kurosawa is such an artist that when you pause just about any time in one of his movies - you'll notice that the actors are blocked in a natural, composed state, yet everyone's faces are unobscured, in focus, and in character. The telephoto lens that Kurosawa loves strips out a lot of the distance and nearly every shot looks like a 2 dimensional painting - made even more apparent by the oversatured colors that really bring the shots and motion to the forefront. It's such a combination of visual stimulus without just being busy - theatrical movements, bright vibrant colors, extensive use of motion. It's such vivid imagery that very few can even approach.
I love this film because of the father son dynamic. I myself the eldest with two younger siblings and our father will be passing down his company to us soon and wanted the same deal given to the brothers.
I understand the need to stand and work together but I’m afraid as history has taught us, splitting will have bad consequences.
If the sentiments of an amateur historian (who may be a total stranger but is certainly a fellow human being) count for anything, please permit me to express my sincere hopes that you and your siblings may successfully be as three arrows gripped together. 👺 🙂
The reason why every shot is so aesthetically-pleasing is because Kurosawa storyboarded the entire film with artwork that he painted himself. Every color used in the film pretty much came from his paintings.
Extra tidbit: Hidetora (angry old guy) is played by Tatsuya Nakadai, a fabulous actor from Japan who starred in other monumental films like Hara-Kiri, Yojimbo, The Human Condition Trilogy, and The Face of Another.
He is also great in Sword of Doom
@@willmendoza8498 Yeah Sword of Doom is one of my personal favorites.
This is based on Shakespeare's on King Lear. Think the director also did one based of Macbeth as well. Speaking of which maybe you can do a whole series of Shakespeare inspired movies?
If you do Shakespeare movies, ya gotta watch "Prospero's Books."
Yes! Kurosawa made more masterpieces than arguably any other director.
And upon getting an Oscar near the end of his life, he said that he considered himself still just a student of the artform.
@@Rmlohner Right! It's his modesty that also made him so special.
Epic pick! I saw this on the big screen in my teens - stunning. Back in the day, we had movie houses that played a different foreign film every day. You could pick up a month calendar of the upcoming films and plan your month.
Me too. Blew me away forever.
YESSSSSS. Oh my god I've been waiting for you to hit Kurosawa. One of my favorite films of all time. Love you man, keep up the great work.
the matter of fact performance and narrative style along with the cinema design of shots is outstanding it really breathes.
Keep hitting the analytics like this and coming up with other segments and you're going to get to 100,000 subscribers really quick brother
You gotta watch this movie on a big screen. It's mesmerizing. This movie is one of the all time best. Absolutely a stunning masterpiece.
Hell yeah, so happy to see this, you gotta do more Kurosawa asap. I'd highly recommend The Hidden Fortress, which was a heavy influence on the original Star Wars. Also, The Seven Samurai, which inspired The Magnificent 7, and Yojimbo which was basically ripped off in the western A Fistful of Dollars. Sanjuro is good as well, it's a prequel to Yojimbo.
I love Kurosawa and this film is almost painfully beautiful. I have a soft spot of the Inagaki 'Samurai' films with Mifune. This era of Japanese filmmaking is very interesting.
I recommend Ninjagari
@@user-es7kd5uu2y thank you
Starting a Kurosawa filmography watch with Ran is a bold move, seeing that he's the greatest filmmaker of all time and this is his best film. Everything he'd done throughout his career culminated in this film.
Your community is awesome for selecting this movie, major props. It's my absolute favorite Shakespearian story renditions.
Just some of the best cinematography ever oh my god
Thanks for a great review, a fitting one for a great movie. I was pretty sure that you'd love it (part of the reason I was one of the Patreon fans who kept voting for Ran) but you outdid me in your comments throughout this review. You've got a really good eye for film, and can analyse them in myriad ways; shot, sound, plot, transition, etc. I'm learning too, from you (even at 60-odd years). Please keep it up.
This is the top 10 for me. this movie is absolutely fantastic. Kurosawa and Kubrick are my favorite
The actress who played Lady Kaede was unbelievably great
There’s precious few flat out masterpieces since 1980. This is indisputably one of them. The first first run masterpiece I ever saw in the theatre.
I would recommend Dreams. 5 short stories based on "Dreams" he had over his lifetime. Some of the most beautiful shots ever made. Especially the episode with Van Gogh (played by another legendary director). And if you want to see an oscar worthy Forest Whittaker playing a modern Samurai, then you have to watch "Ghost Dog".
would love to see you compared 7 Samurai and the American version The Magnificent 7 (1960). Both are very good in their own ways and quite long (packed not stretched though), however M7 is about 50 minutes shorter.
Yojimbo vs Fistful of Dollars too!
Aw hell yeah. This one of the most beautiful masterpieces of cinema out there, man.
I think a great introduction to Kurosawa is probably Seven Samurai. It is long, though it’s paced so well that it doesn’t really feel like it. It’s also a great action film, with lots of characters to get invested in, all framed in some of the best cinematography in any film ever.
This might be the most beautiful film ever recorded. The ending is one of those ending that I wasn’t sure that I fully understood, it affected me, but I wasn’t sure I fully grasped the meaning. After doing some research, I understood the consequences even more and it hit really hard. Probably my favorite Kurosawa film.
I just upgraded to the 4k for Ran. The first thing I looked at was that castle fight where everything goes to hell. So friggin' epic.
Hope you watched this on a larger screen than a desktop or laptop, cause it is stunningly beautiful. By the way, if no one pointed it out to you, this is an adaptation of Shakespeare's TRAGEDY King Lear. That last image is a metaphor for the the old king - a blind man unaware that tragedy is just one false move away.
Kurosawa was blind when he made this movie, they say he barely had any vision at all left when making it.
Don’t normally watch foreign language films but I have this on blu ray. Stunning artistry. Great reaction video. Could talk and dissect this film for hours. Timeless. Kurosawa rocks 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🇬🇧
Seven Samurai, Rashoman, Yojimbo, The Hidden Fortress, Throne of Blood, and Kagemusha are all great films! Pretty much any Kurosawa film is worth watching
Happy to see someone else mention Kagemusha. It's an underrated film which is overshadowed by some of his other more well-known films.
Always look forward to your vids man. It's like watching a movie with a homie that enjoys cinema as much as I do.
So funny you were watching it without subtitles before you realized they were off! When it's a director like this, I'm always watching scenes twice: once with subtitles, then without, just so I can make sure I get the visuals . Sometimes, with Godard, I leave them off for long stretches because it doesn't even matter, just watching the visuals and listening to the sound of the language. There's a Fellini movie that has a scene in an airport....and the subtitles are going a mile a minute, transcribing the announcements that you hear when you're in an airport.....totally irrelevant dialog, I turn it off, and concentrate on the visuals. Love that you dipped into the international film scene!
RAN (Samurai King Lear) is fantastic. And Kurosawa’s film catalog is amazing. Here are some (highly recommended) films from the master:
Yojimbo (remade as “A Fistful of Dollars”)
Sanjuro (sequel to Yojimbo and just as great)
Throne of Blood (Samurai Macbeth)
The Hidden Fortress (George Lucas took a lot (stole?) from this film for Star Wars)
Ikiru (powerful heart wrenching drama)
Rashomon (remade so many times, no one comes close to this imo)
Seven Samurai (One of the greatest films ever made. Remade into “The Magnificent Seven” which you should also react to the 1960 original)
This film broke my heart. Akira Kurosawa makes you feel, makes you think, and hits every spectrum at the same time.
Ran is one of my favorite films of all time. With regard to the make-up and acting, the film was heavily influenced by Japanese Noh theater, which uses heavily stylized masks/make-up and exaggerated gestures to establish characters and convey emotions. It works perfectly in this film, but would probably be considered over-dramatic or hammy in an American prodiction
Hero by Zhang Yimou took a lot of inspiration from Akira Kurosawa’s works, from Rashomon and especially from here, Ran. In the red school scene in Hero, the master teaches sat steadfastly while arrows surrounding him is a straight lift off from Ran where the father was entranced idly with all the arrows flying about him.
YO DUDE! What a film to react to!! Love it - super hyped for all of this
James.. the tactical Genius!
Your comment on how amazing shots and frames were is quite apt - there are documentaries about Kurosawa's work. He would literally draw out all the shots/scenes he wanted in advance. Also there are few directors who can come close to the impact Kurosawa has had over the decades is insane - I would say Miyazaki was influenced by Kurosawa's work. Now you need to check out the greatest action movie/film ever made - Seven Samurai. Kurosawa's hallmark is to make sure all backgrounds have something - action has an impact and violence is visceral.
Oh man can't wait to see your reaction to that masterpiece. Watched it only recently myself and some of these scenes really stuck with me. Akira Kurosawa really was one of the greatest.
If I recall, Kurosawa was also a painter. From this he used his painter's eye on the film screen and makeup.
See Kyle Kallgren's analysis of Ran for more detail.
I've seriously been waiting on someone to react to this, this is my absolute #1 favorite Kurosawa film. But old school Japanese film's being so obscure, I figured Noone here in the West would ever react to it. Thanks for proving me wrong bro :)
Oh wow, excellent movie choice! I'm a big fan of Kurosawa and this is up there as one of his best!
Kurosawa was a painter and it really shows in this movie. The framing and the use of colors is immaculate. You can capture damn near any frame in this movie and hang it on the wall. This is A+ level of filmmaking right there, bro.
The scene where they take refuge with the blind boy whose eyes he had gouged out hits so hard now that I've actually studied Buddhism in university.
A cinematic masterpiece!!! So glad you're finally watching some Kurosawa! :)
That was dope, I'd love for you to do more foreign movies! If you ever feel inclined, a reaction to the German WW2-submarine-movie "Das Boot" would be awesome! (Although that could be difficult, there are like ten different versions of that film xD)
Great ups.
Kurosawa is a no-miss director. Any one you pick for the next one will be a good one.
Epic movie. Damn you guys know how to pickem. Props to the patrons
Hells to the yes!
That last scene is so beautiful and so bleak. A blind man heading to the precipice, teatering on the edge, Kurosawa certainly wasn't an optimist about human nature.
A movie of his i love that is not well known or even loved, would be Dersu Uzala. Based on a book and takes place in Siberia. I highly recommend it to kurosawa fans who havent seen some of his less popular films.
Kurosawa’s one of the few dudes who’s stuff lives up to the insane expectations of his reputation…and even surpasses them. The guy was legally blind by this point in his life but still created this incredible imagery! Im sure you’re getting recommended all his classics but if ur doing a deep-dive def check out Dersu Uzala, it’s one of his lesser talked about films but it’s so visually poetic. It’s the only movie he shot in 70mm and it was made on location in Siberia..it’s dope.
If you didn't make the connection this is actually William Shakespeare king Lear, but a Japanese version. Kurosawa loves Shakespeare.
This is awesome! Not a lot of people on RUclips reacting to kurosawa films. You'll have to do seven samurai next :)
Damn how did I miss this when you uploaded it! So cool to see you doing Kurosawa James
Nice! Big ups on taking on some formidable content, James 🙏
It should be nice to make a serie of Japanese film vs western based on it! I would watch it!
you know you really make peoples days better man
Ay man that makes me smile bro!
I just wanted to point out that Tatsuya Nakadai, the man who plays the King, is 90 years old to this day. An absolute legend. I pray his health continues.
So glad to see someone finally react to this movie. One of my all time favorites.
You can't lose with Kurosawa! He's one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. You should also check other Japanese masters, movies like "Hara-Kiri" by Masaki Kobayashi or "Onibaba" by Kaneto Shindo are definitely worth reaction videos.
Don't forget Ozu!
I highly recommend you watch the short video essay on Kurosawa on the channel Every Frame a Painting. Kurosawa was a genius with film, but EFaP outlined his skills nicely for everyone to understand why his films are timeless.
I think the blind man at the end represents humanity as a whole - when left to our own devices. We are lost on a path towards our own oblivion without some sort of transcendent guide to aide us.
"Every Frame A Painting" had a fantastic video on Kurosawa. He's a master of movement, composition, and utilizing weather.
I also love the fact that he adapted Shakespeare like this.
"RAN
Watch RAN (1985)
You know nothing." -- June 2nd, 2021
Been hell of a fight and the results do not disappoint.
Yeah Kurosawa made a genuine shit-ton of incredible films and Ran was the one that got me into him. I could try to pick apart which Kurosawa films would be good entry points, but anyone is fine. Along with Ran, another really good film that he made that was based on a Shakespeare play is Throne of Blood from '57. I'd say that one is about as good as Ran.
This was my first Kurosawa film and I was blown away. The color in this is especially striking
Derzu Uzala. Masterpiece. You'll love it.
If you're gonna be looking at more Kurosawa films then I would highly recommend the film Seven Samurai. The quintessential samurai film. The inspiration of so many pop culture films from the Magnificent Seven to Star Wars. A true masterpiece that is visually stunning, filled with incredible action, great characters, and really compelling themes about classism, elitism and the stratification of society in general. It really is a classic for a reason.
Boar-hunting can be found in many cultures as the sport of kings, but it also shows that the skilled huntsman who provides good meat for his fellows is the ruler, in a very basic way.
If the land is unable to provide food, his power fades and dies, because he is unworthy of his land (old age in this case).
In British and Celtic myth 'the King and the Land are One'.
Princess Mononoke showed a place where that had been forgotten, nature being ignored in favour of wealth in the form of weapons, steel and fire.