Does anyone know why there are such prominent shots of clouds in 'Ran' and other Kurosawa movies? Some kind of Buddhist or Shinto belief behind this? The shots are quite beautiful but I wonder if there is supposed to be some other meaning to them. Perhaps Kurosawa just loves looking at clouds?
share[deleted]
Thanks for the response. I will have to watch it again with commentary.
shareAnother thing to note about the clouds in Ran is that they foretell the oncoming storms; both the literal storm and the figurative storm that takes place within the family and in Hidetora's life.
shareThe thing I noticed about the clouds was that in the beginning, when the family was unified, the cloud was upright and powerful looking, like a tower or castle. At the end, when the series of betrayals had broken the family apart, the shot of the sky showed a few wisps of dissolved clouds... remnants of the earlier titan.
shareI hadn't noticed that little detail before. Great catch.
shareSome films produce beautiful images but I think "Ran" is one of those types that give you "beautiful terrors". Just looking at the images he made of those "beautiful" clouds shows how his genius in marrying it with the terrible.
Those clouds are something to behold when you see them on the screen. you are just mesmerized as they billow up in the frame.
nice pickup.
His name...was Julio Iglesias!