Ran | Blu-ray (StudioCanal Collection)
Today’s Deal on Fire is the Blu-ray for Akira Kurosawa’s Ran, a 1985 “interpretation” of Shakespeare’s King Lear.
Throughout Akira Kurosawa’s illustrious career the director often adapted classic literature from overseas and transformed the stories into tales about Japan. Some of his favorite writers that he took the most inspiration from were Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, and Maxim Gorky, but it’s the Shakespeare adaptations that made for the most interesting films. Kurosawa did away with Shakespeare’s words but kept the tragic plots largely intact. Shakespeare’s Macbeth became Throne of Blood, a film about a samurai that commits murder in order to chase destiny. Hamlet was an inspiration for The Bad Sleep Well, a drama about a businessman carefully plotting his revenge against the executives responsible for his father’s death. King Lear would become Ran, Kurosawa’s final Shakespeare adaptation, which transformed the tragedy into a samurai epic.
Ran stars Tatsuya Nakadai (Kwaidan), Akira Terao (Dreams), Jinpachi Nezu (Gonin), Daisuke Ryu (Kagemusha) and Masayuki Yui (Tokyo Eyes).
Order Ran from Amazon.com today!
