Seven Samurai is a classic, but Ran seemed to have somethingf that was just better than that movie. Its weird because Seven Samurai is such an intimate film and Ran seems cold and distant on the surface but ends up being extremely profound.
"You haven't got the feel of this at all, lad. Use all your voices. When I bellow, bellow back."
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"Ran" is my favourite movie ever. I even think the battle sequences in "Ran" are better than "Seven Samurai"
"I saw that movie on a plane and people still walked out." - Bill Hader (Sam Raimi birthday video)
As much as I admire Ran, I would really have to disagree with that. To me, the Mifune/black and white period is Kurosawa at his most alert and vigorous as a film maker. Ran, has an asture integrity all it's own, but Seven Samurai is simply a force of nature. I also feel that the story is more universal, and literally all human emotions and all variations on humanity are explored in Seven Samurai. Ran, is, by design, far more narrow in it's focus. That can be a strength in most films, but in the case of Seven Samurai the cliche "running the gamut of human emotions" is in fact accurate.
shareI think "Ran" is very complex. I admit that I never found "Seven Samurai" as deep as "Ikiru" or "Ran". I found it more escapist, like "The Hidden Fortress". I would be glad to hear you elaborate on the variations on humanity in the film.
"I saw that movie on a plane and people still walked out." - Bill Hader (Sam Raimi birthday video)
well, to put it simply, Seven Samurai has about as many facets as you could care to stuff in a film, yet the film never feels overstuffed, at least to me. Let's see, bawdy humour, romance, comedy, terror, violence, comradeship, compassion, class divisions, action (of course), leadership...and of course many others. One of the stylistic aspects of Seven Samurai which is complex indeed is the way Kurosawa blocked actors in each shot. Whenever the characters are in a frame together it is for a symbolic as well as story reason. When an actor enters or exits a frame it is for a symbolism as well as story reason. Donald Richie goes into great detail in his Kurosawa book about this, and I believe the commentary on the DVD explains this quite a bit too. The gist is the choreography and framing of the actors in each scene mirror the conflicts between the characters. Kurosawa used this technique throughout his career, and so have other directors I'm sure, but he ran a virtual clinic on it in Samurai. The level of sophistication in Samurai with this technique is astonishing.
Naturally, I could make a long list for Ran too. Family relations, lust, violence, innocence, evil, religion. Yes, there is a tiny bit of humor in Ran as well, now that I think of it, and much else too, but it doesn't feel quite as complete as Samurai for me.
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Though I still prefer 7 Sam, I will acknowledge Yojimbo may well be THE most influential film Kurosawa ever made as it launched the careers of Leone and Eastwood, and was the catalyst for the whole spaghetti western movement (which itself was highly influential), not to mention the "ant-hero" vibe so common in 60's cinema. I guess it depends on what angle you look at it. Rashomon was also VERY influential as it brought Japanese and Asian cinema to the attention of the West for the first time. The word "Rashomon" has also entered the lexicon in instances where you have multiple witness with contradictory testimony.
I would place my bets on Seven Samurai, though, as the most timeless film and the one most likely to be remembered.
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I think Kurosaw was at his best in black and white, Toshiro Mifune is one of my favorite actors and Seven Samurai is a pure cinematic classic. That said, Ran is one of my favorite films ever and I believe it was the best one Kurosawa made.
shareI think that most people think that Toshiro Mifune and Kurosawa was one of the best collaborations between a director and an actor ever. That said in terms of visuals he was at his best all the time, it's just the final product sometimes (however rarely) faltered. 'Kagemusha' however good it is, is nowehere Kurosawa's best. Yet 'Ran' is one of the greatest ever, because it surpasses authorative movie making mastery into a sort of omnipotence.
"You're going to cross Sinai?"
"Moses did"
Looking at his filmography, I realize he has lots of movies I've only heard about. So I've seen Rashomon, Seven Samura, Kagemusha, and Madadayo. I prefer Madadayo. More of a personal movie.
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I think SEVEN SAMURAI the greatest movie ever made, so I'm not going to rate this one as high.
I rate this the best movie of his late, post-1965 period, but I rate that period way, way behind the 1943-65 period. Overall I rate his movies, through RAN, as follows:
Seven Samurai
Ikiru
Rashomon
Yojimbo
High and Low
Stray Dog
The Lower Depths
Red Beard
Sanjuro
Ran
I find the cinematography to be a lot less interesting in RAN than in those earlier films. In those films he engaged in more camera movement and while in most of them also using 2 or 3 cameras for each scene, the cuts were much more frequent. There is the old saying that Kurosawa was a great director but was even a greater editor. In RAN there isn't a lot of opportunity to show off his editing skills. There are some great edits, but not as many as in the other films.
The editing in SEVEN SAMURAI is breathtaking.
But then one could construe greatness as one thing and preference as another. No one can question that SEVEN SAMURAI is a much greater film than RAN. Question that and you reveal yourself to be ignorant about cinema. RAN has exerted no influence on cinema and never will. SEVEN SAMURAI is one of the most influential films ever made, because of things like its being the first use of 3-cameras, the way it pioneered the use in Japan of telephoto lenses for deep focus and the flattening of the screen image, the recreation of the Japanese historical film or jidai-geki, the introduction of slow motion, the utterly astonishing editing in the final battle scene, the way he shot underneath horses, and countless other things. Kurosawa in SEVEN SAMURAI created the vocabulary for action cinema. RAN is a fine film, but I can't identify a single way it is a better film. And I haven't even got into acting, which was adequate in RAN (except for Mieko Harada, who handed in one of the 2 or 3 best performances of any actress in a Kurosawa film) but astonishing in SEVEN SAMURAI.
One could, however, despite SEVEN SAMURAI extraordinary greatness, simply say that although it is the greater film, one prefers RAN anyway.
I prefer it as well. There is something so striking about the film. It is both beautiful and epic. Of Kurosawa's films I have, unfortunately, only seen Seven Samurai and Ran, so I cannot truly say what my favourite Kurosawa film is, but I certainly can say that I prefer Ran to Seven Samurai.
shareI prefer Ran as well, I gotta I'm a little surprised of how many ppl chose "Ran" over "Seven Samurai".
TO me "Ran" has heart to it, but you really have to search deep for it. Someone earlier used the word "complex" I'll have to agree to that. I love a movie that leaves me thinking about it days after, trying to decipher the meanings and symbolisms. The colors, the battles, the peaceful/quiet music, and the complex incredible story of betrayal and family was gripping. There were points in this movie were I was jut in complete awe of the lanscape and how well the colors complemented each other.
Because Ran with its stunningly pristine colors & compositions is more visually striking, yes. And the sound design is more impressive. I think Seven Samurai is somewhat overrated anyway.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
I had this conversation a while back. Kurosawas color films and b and w films are different but good still
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Ran and Seven Samurai are my favorite Kurosawa´s films and I rated both a 10 out of 10.
But I prefer Ran to Seven Samurai (by a hair). The visuals in this movie are just astonishing, I cannot find this perfection in any other movie.
Thus far I've only seen a few Kurosawa films. Seven Samurai was the first, then Sanjuro, Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo, Ran, and I'm going to watch Rashomon tomorrow. I'm making my way through his catalogue, but thus far, Sanjuro and Ran are my top two, but Seven Samurai is a great character film, and depending on my mood, my favourite changes. There are days when I would take SS over Ran and Yojimbo over Sanjuro, even Hidden Fortress over one of them...Again, it's all mood related...maybe, instead of putting them in some arbitrary order, I'll say I'd rather commit sepukku than choose my all-time favourite. Kurosawa made a great many films, and all should be enjoyed as separate pieces of work. Resist the temptation to compare them to his other work, shun as many preconceptions as you can and enjoy...in fact, do this with all films. Enjoyment increases many-fold.
shareRan is my favorite. It's his most visually stunning out of the ones I've seen and the quality of the image sets it apart from his earlier work. I've only seen a small few of his films but from the ones I have 'Ran' was the most magnificent
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I just saw Kagamusha, and it's right up there with Ran, though I think as far as directorial efforts go, Ran might take the cake for me. There are some scenes in both that movie that are just utterly breathtaking, but Ran may have one or two more. I'll have to watch it again.
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