Ran

The work of an old man. Kurosawa, in his seventies when he made his version of King Lear, was always a pessimist. One need only witness the curious intensity he brought to his other Shakespeare project (and masterpiece), Throne of Blood, to know that.

Ran isn't quite as successful. It is an epic, color coded, and beautifully scored descent into hell, but Kurosawa seems more intent on pointing out that you can't escape your past than Shakespeare's meditation on the pain of love and family (among many other things of course, but that always seemed the heart of the play to me).

The major difference between the play and the movie (even more than changing the daughters to sons) is the inclusion of a vengeful wife, out to get the family for past transgressions against her. Essentially the movie becomes a revenge tale, draining away the cosmic dimensions of the original. So what is put in its place?

"Man loves sorrow and war," a character says near the end. The most powerful scene in the movie portrays an intense and bloody battle, with the sound turned off, and looming violin strings play on the soundtrack, heightening the curious beauty of the scene. Perhaps this leads to the point of the film, making it a depiction of beautiful horror.