RAN - DVD review

I graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. Within my major, I focused on Shakespeare studies. Although I wasn't really fond of the Bard prior to my college days, I came to appreciate his contributions to literary and cultural landscapes under the guidance of Professor Barbara Correll. I took three Shakespeare courses taught by Professor Correll, and one of them--"Shakespeare in the 20th Century"--was one of my favorite experiences during my time in Ithaca, New York. While some of her colleagues questioned the academic necessity of introducing "Shakespeare in the 20th Century" to the English program, Professor Correll was fond of observing that she had "always studied Shakespeare IN the 20th Century".

And so it goes that the most canonical of English-language writers has often inspired people working with the artistic medium most-representative of the 20th Century--film. The vast majority of cinematic adaptations of Shakespeare arise from their filmmakers' response to the Bard's texts. When you "read" a movie rather than simply watching it, you'll be able to see how different people place emphases on different ideas, leading to adaptations of varying tones, even when they're based on the same play. For example, Laurence Olivier's "Hamlet" focuses on the psychological aspects of Shakespeare's play, but Kenneth Branagh's version focuses on physicality.

Westerners aren't the only ones to adapt Shakespeare for the big screen, though. Japanese master filmmaker Akira Kurosawa made "Throne of Blood" ("Macbeth") and "Ran" ("King Lear"). In my opinion, "Ran" ("chaos" in both Chinese and Japanese [which is derived from Chinese anyway]) is the best film adaptation of Shakespeare yet seen, probably because Kurosawa literally spent years making it. In his old age, no one was willing to finance an expensive production directed by someone whose movies hadn't turned a profit in a long time. While waiting for someone to shower him with money, Kurosawa painted detailed storyboards and designed ornate costumes. When French producer Serge Silberman managed to collect enough funds for Kurosawa to make his masterpiece, the legend had basically pre-shot and pre-edited the entire movie. Therefore, watching "Ran", you feel a sense of awe witnessing painterly compositions (most of the film is comprised of master shots and lengthy tracking shots) and the stunning use of colors.

In "Ran", Hidetora the Great Lord of the Ichimonji clan (Lear) divides his lands between his sons Taro (Goneril), Jiro (Regan), and Saburo (Cordelia). When Saburo refuses to flatter the Great Lord and his plans, Hidetora banishes his youngest son. Lord Fujimaki realizes that Saburo is the good son, so he asks Saburo to marry his daughter. Meanwhile, in quick succession, Hidetora's two eldest sons throw him out of their respective castles and eventually wage war against their father. Rendered power- and entourage-less, Hidetora wanders the barren plains in a state of hysteria. Near the end of the movie, the filial Saburo tries to rescue his father, but various armies also gather on the edges of Ichimonji territory. All have come to witness the destruction of the Great Lord's achievements.

"Ran" is a stunning visual feast. Soldiers of different armies wear flags with different colors, and Kurosawa directed his pretend armies so that oceans of yellow and red and blue and black swarm across the screen. In a wide shot representational of the state of affairs in the Ichimonji lands, Hidetora staggers down the steps of a burning castle while soldiers wearing yellow flags (Taro's men) and soldiers wearing red flags (Jiro's men) part to the sides of the screen (signifying the dangerous division of power). The soldiers aren't the only ones who wear eye-catching garb. Everyone wears elaborate period clothes that are detailed down to the smallest stitches. Fittingly, the movie won an Oscar for costume design.

The movie offers an ensemble cast's worth of great performances. Western viewers unfamiliar with Japanese cinema will find comfort in laughing at the antics of Hidetora's fool, Kyoami. More important than laughs, though, the performances offer commentary on Japanese culture as well as Kurosawa's interpretation of "King Lear" set in Japan. For example, the actor who plays Jiro (the second son) struts around as if he is the smartest guy on Earth. When he meets his sister-in-law in order to assume the role of leader of the Ichimonjis, he behaves like any Japanese man of the medieval period would--entirely at ease with the idea that women are meek and weak. Little does he know (in this case, an actor doing a great job of playing the part) that his sister-in-law is not an ordinary lady.

For me, in addition to being a rich Shakespeare adaptation, "Ran" is most memorable for giving the world a crafty and compellingly watchable villain--Lady Kaede. Kaede manipulates the Ichimonjis to self-destruct without any other character knowing the full extent of her machinations. Actress Mieko Harada plays her character as a cold woman with complete command over others' perceptions of her. Harada is so sexy, so scary, so sinister, and so mercurially beguiling that it'd be worth watching the movie for her performance alone even if "Ran" was not a must-see.

Video:
The back cover art of the DVD case states that the video has been framed at 1.85:1, but I've seen plenty of 1.85:1 transfers to video to know that the new "Ran" DVD does NOT offer a 1.85:1 image. The image looks to be about 1.75:1, and it is anamorphically enhanced for widescreen (16:9) monitors. Not only is the image less wide than advertised, it has also been mis-framed. The image is simply not as wide as it should be given the fact that many words during the opening credits have letters chopped off of either their beginnings or ends. Kurosawa spent years painting storyboards for "Ran", so he used widescreen compositions for maximum effect. Wellspring's zooming in on the film negative makes everything feel cramped and effectively destroys Kurosawa's artistic vision.

The problems continue. Every frame exhibits excessive shimmering, and the picture's colors seem to be mis-timed (chemically inaccurate, imbalanced, and un-corrected). There are plenty of digital artifacts such as mosquito noise and halos that look like wet smudges. Foreground objects appear to be unnaturally separated from backgrounds. Some scene transitions are jittery due to the fact that some sprocket holes on the film negative are damaged, causing the image to shake. To cap things off, whoever created the "new" high-def master didn't bother to remove the "reel change" burn marks that appear in the upper-right-hand corner every 15-20 minutes.

The truth of the matter is that the print itself seems to be in good condition, but the digital transfer was done carelessly. The fact that Wellspring didn't frame the movie properly will only break the hearts of serious filmgoers. From a technical standpoint, the video probably rates a 5. From an esthetic point of view, I have to rate the video a 1.

Audio:
Since the medium of cinema is primarily a visual one, I won't rate the DVD's audio as harshly as I did its video. For the most part, the Dolby Digital 5.1 Japanese audio track sounds like a re-jigged version of the film's original mono soundtrack (included on the DVD in DD 2.0 mono Japanese guise). Gunshots and raging fires sound like New Year's firecrackers and cackling fireplaces rather than the real deals. The music score tends to be shrill, thin, and a bit shaky. There aren't really any directionality effects except for some birds chirping from the rear speakers. Still, dialogue is always clear and intelligible, and there aren't any pops or hisses. The audio on this DVD isn't bad--it was simply indifferently created.

Optional English subtitles support the audio. The subtitles have numerous spelling errors that are distracting. For example, "Don't lick your chops yet" has been encoded as "Don't like your chops yet". WTF?

Extras:
This is the second time that Wellspring is releasing "Ran" on DVD. The first DVD had neither anamorphic widescreen video nor any substantive extras. This new "The Masterworks Edition" DVD has a pair of promos for the movie, a Kurosawa filmography (text pages), some production notes (also text pages), a "Restoration Demo" that lazily shows "before and after" shots comparing the new DVD image to the old VHS/LD/DVD master, and some weblinks (to websites that probably can provide more useful information than the DVD).

There are also two audio commentaries on the DVD. Peter Grilli, producer of the documentary "Kurosawa", recorded one track, and Stephen Prince, author of "The Warrior's Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa", recorded the other. Surprisingly, given their credentials, neither man seems to have much worthwhile to say about the movie. Both commentaries are filled with plenty of gaps, and both Grilli and Prince resort to narrating or stating the obvious. Wellspring should've found either a Japanese culture expert or a Shakespeare expert to do a talk track for "Ran".

On the main menu page, clicking on the Wellspring logo leads to a text page of DVD production credits.

--Miscellaneous--
A glossy insert provides chapter listings.

Film Value:
Wellspring didn't get "Ran" right the first time that it issued a DVD of the movie. Now the company is selling a "The Masterworks Edition" that has extras that are worth scant attention and a video transfer that is emotionally painful to look upon. "Ran" deserves much better than it has endured at Wellspring's hands, so here's to hoping that Akira Kurosawa's adaptation of "King Lear" will be re-done on DVD soon.