WHY DON'T I LIKE HIM!?!?

[deleted]

How rude. There's no need for that.

Doodoo, could you explain a little more? I don't quite understand whether you're saying you liked other Kurosawa films but not Ran or Seven Samurai, or if you mean you don't like his work at all? If the the former, it might be interesting to discuss which of his films you do like, and why; if the latter, well, never mind, not everybody is going to like everything. Perhaps come back to it after a few years.

Ran and Seven Samurai are two very different films, one being Noh-based, formal, rather distant, and the other realistic, up-close, dirty and personal. We often find on these boards that people who hate one love the other.

Glad you liked Twilight Samurai - I suggest you look for the other two of Yamada-san's trilogy.

Kambei of the Gormful Gumi.

Shame on Orange Sunshine. There's no need to abuse you for your opinion, benighted though I think it is. And take heart, doodoo: anyone who misspells "idiot" isn't qualified to call you one.

You say you love Shakespeare, which means that there is hope for you. But to really appreciate great art, you need to be able to differentiate between that and everything else. Develop your critical thinking skills by noting what it is that you like about a given scene in one of your favorite movies, and then what it is you don't like about a given scene in RAN. Try writing (and reading) film criticism. And I don't mean something lame like the Medveds; try Pauline Kael, A.O. Scott, James Agee, people with whom you may not always agree but who bring to their opinion a history of informed, constructive ideas. Get out of the box from which you now look at things, and the world may open up for you in a startling manner.

Suzume-san is right in saying that not everyone will like everything. But a knowledge of the stylistic origins of a piece is unnecessary to an appreciation of it. Yes, those of us who can tell are pleased to observe the elements of traditional Japanese theater in much of Kurosawa's later work. But you don't have to know about that stuff to be awed by RAN. You just have to have a honed sense of judgment.

The reason you don't like the best of Kurosawa is probably the same reason you do like most of the films in the IMDb top 250: your taste hasn't been properly developed. You've spent too much time watching inferior product and thinking that's the gold standard - worse, you've spent too little time figuring out why it is that you have these opinions. For instance, if you like Michael Bay movies, this doesn't necessarily make you stupid; it just means your critical faculties and attention span have been attenuated by overexposure to frenetic editing, obvious writing, one-dimensional characters and shiny special effects.

RAN isn't too long, and it certainly doesn't drag; if anything, it's not long enough. There isn't an unfilled moment in the whole thing. SEVEN SAMURAI is another example of a very long movie that's philosophically and visually stimulating in every shot. This is of course only an opinion, and the fact that this opinion is shared by most of cinema's critical thinkers should not persuade you.

I love Seven Samurai, it's one of my favourite movies ever, but I didn't like Ran that much (probably because I watched such a dreadful copy of it). But you shouldn't feel that you have to like a film. I mean I really don't like 2001: A Space Odyssey but I still know how to analyze it and get the most out of it even if it doesn't give me any profound physical reaction.

Of course Seven Samurai and 2001 are two very different movies. Seven Samurai is, on a basic level, an action adventure movie. So I don't know what to say except watch it again (and make sure you're watching a good quality version)

Why don't I like him?

Ran can be a difficult film to watch. Although I love every minute of it, its long and slow compared to most fast paced action films. Personally I love the pace, but if you are not used to that sort of pacing, it can be a problem (I watch operas so I'm used to stories that are not in any hurry to go anywhere).

To some extent it may be age. The older I get the more I get this film -- something about having ones own kids makes you more aware of rivalries between them and with you.

There are also elements in the style that are intended to distance you from the action such as the long shots. The film is an antiwar film and one of the things he was trying to avoid was to glorify war... not an easy thing to do when you make a film about war. The long shots and the lack of individual valour (no cold steel action) are some of the points that people have complained about in this film and yet they were part of a plan to keep glory out of war.

The film also lack good guys -- it lack heros. Our natural tendency in watching a story is to want to sympathize with someone. You may sympathize with the old lord, but there are sufficient hints in the story that he deserves the hell he is in (espeically in his talk with Sue -- which stands out as a bit too contrived, but gets its point across). There is of course the Jester, but hes not particularly heroic.

Anyway, if you don't like it. Thats ok, come back to it in a few years and try it again. It may well grow on you.

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RIGOLETTO: I'm denied that common human right, to weep.

Person who is spelling "scene" -> "seen" should not even talk about Kurosawa.

I saw Seven Samurai a while ago and really liked it, so I've been looking forward to seeing this movie for a while. Must admit I was pretty disappointed...

I read what you all write, and agree that the cinematography is (in most cases) excellent. However, I also recognize how some feel about poor acting, and being unable to connect to the carracters. I couldn't really take the father serious because he went around looking like a bad impersonation of himself... in bad makeup.

I liked the story, overall, but think it dwells at a lot of places where I just want it to move on, so I would also say that at least half an hour of movie could be cut without hurting anything. I almost dozed off at one point. Mayby it's because I'm still so "young" (meaning not middle aged). I will definitely give it another chance when I reach that age.

I don't know wheteher I have a poor copy (I have the HD DVD), but I was often irritated by differing quality in both sound at picture. At one point the picture format even changed, cutting off a little from both left and right side.

Just my two cents. Still probably gonna have a look at his other movies.