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. Ran stars Tatsuya Nakadai with music by Toru Takemitsu. Ran will be available on May 12, 2009.
Blu-ray Special Edition Features:
– Restored high-definition digital transfer, with an uncompressed stereo soundtrack
– 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
– Video interview with actor Tatsuya Nakadai
– Theatrical trailers
– PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Michael Wilmington and an interview with Kurosawa
Click here to view the cover art.