Jul 26th    
Ran*** (15)   
(King Street Cinema, Ipswich)

(Jap/Fra 1985)
Nippon Herald/Greenwich Film Productions/Toho. 162m.

A 40th anniversary re-release of an 80s action thriller, but of the much more artistically crafted kind: Kurosawa's adaptation of King Lear with an aging Samurai warlord and his three feuding sons, although the women still very much have their say in a sometimes languid epic, but beautifully visual as expected of him and with some superb battle scenes to rival the best of the Shakespeare films.

Written by: Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Masato Ide.
Producers: Katsumi Masato Hora, Serge Silberman.
Director: Akira Kurosawa.
Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryu, Mieko Harada, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Mayasuki Yui, Peter (as the Fool).
Photography: Takao Saito, Shoji Ueda, Asakazu Nakai.
Music: Toru Takemitsu.

Roger Ebert review

RAN. The perfect visual metaphor for the King and his self-destructing kingdom.