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From: nielsen@hplabsc.UUCP (Walter Nielsen)
Newsgroups: net.movies
Subject: Re: Ran
Message-ID: <48@hplabsc.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 20-Jan-86 14:38:43 EST
Article-I.D.: hplabsc.48
Posted: Mon Jan 20 14:38:43 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 21-Jan-86 02:25:27 EST
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Organization: Hewlett Packard Labs, Palo Alto CA
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> a
> I saw "Ran" the other night with several friends.  I was somewhat wary of the
> movie, since the last Kurosawa I saw was "Kagemusha", and I felt it suceeded
> more on the directors reputation than on the content.  I did enjoy "Ran"
> however; it is truely epic and a masterpiece of visualization.  As for the
> content, I'm not convinced of its profundity.  It is loosely based on "King
> Lear" and although it has been a long time since I read that play, I recall
> it as more of a vehicle for a actor to rant and rave across the stage  than 
> as a particularly compelling plot, but then I'm not a parent!  The screenplay
> divirges in two notable ways.  

My understanding was that Ran is based on the story in Japanese folklore
and that the similarity to King Lear was recognized by Kurosawa HALF-WAY
through while he was making it.  Therefore any comparisons on the divulgence
of the movie's plot to King Lear are invalid.



Walter Nielsen
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