| Notes | Criterion Collection DVD edition
With Ran, legendary director Akira Kurosawa reimagines Shakespeare’s King Lear as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan. Majestic in scope, the film is Kurosawa’s late-life masterpiece, a profound examination of the folly of war and the crumbling of one family under the weight of betrayal, greed, and the insatiable thirst for power.
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Audio commentary featuring film scholar Stephen Prince
An appreciation of the film by director Sidney Lumet
A.K., a 74-minute film by director Chris Marker
A 30-minute documentary on the making of Ran, from the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create
A 35-minute video piece reconstructing Ran through Kurosawa’s paintings and sketches, created as part of the series Image: Kurosawa’s Continuity
Video interview with actor Tatsuya Nakadai
Theatrical trailers
New and improved English subtitle translation
Plus: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Michael Wilmington and interviews with Kurosawa and composer Toru Takemitsu
New cover by Lucien S. Y. Yang |
