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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 1986)
Wednesday, April 16, 1986 Daily Nebraskan Page 9 9 P ySifol to mls Arft lis Eeftertammeet ir,-.',-8i Q " sin By Charles Lieurance Senior Reporter Akira Kurosawa directs films the way military leaders direct theaters of war. Kurosawa's latest film, the much acclaimed "Ran," is simply astounding, a breathless canvas of the personal vision of "the Emperor," as he is called in the international film community. The film is Kurasawa through and t hrough, from the highly stylized hallu cinogenic battle scenes that have become his trademark in films like "The Seven Samurai" and "Kagemu sha: The Shadow Warriors" to the poig nant comment ary on the human capacity for bloodshed and cruelty. Movie Review But "Ran" is also a pinnacle, a re telling of Shakespeare's "King Lear" painted in such bold, long strokes that it nearly sums up the Kurosawa "message." "Lear's" themes of betrayal, filial love, filial hatred, nature, madness, war and spiritual darkness all are captured with devastating clarity. But Kurosawa takes the whole business to the nth degree. It might sound absurd to say he has modernized "Lear" in a film set in Japan during the 1500s, the twilight of an age of feudal lords and infernal infighting. But Kurosawa's "Ran" has a living, breathing commitment to this age. Kurosawa's interest in history is as metaphor. Something of the modern nuclear crisis is here, although pinning it down is hard. Perhaps it is the chang ing landscapes. Kurosawa's sudden landscape changes are painful. He switches from very Oriental rolling, watercolor-wash bucolic to bleak, burned-out fortresses or monsoon thrashed thickets. The pain in the land and the pain in the sky that Kurosawa manages to capture on celluloid is one of the strongest anti-war statements I've seen in a long while. The acting in "Ran " is incredibly palatable for a Japanese film shown in 4 -! f V . r v V f Harada as Lady Kaede in 'Ran' Western theaters. Japanese acting usually translates into long somber expressions (I hesitate to call this the "inscrutable" look) and unbearable histrionics to Western audiences more used to the Western theatrical tradi tion. There is usually no middle of the road. Not so in "Ran." The acting is uni versally impeccable. Mieko Harada as the monstrous villain Lady Kaede, is a stand-out. Her combination of seduc tive power and sheer demonic madness is a masterwork of expression and versatility. To those unfamiliar with Shake speare's "Lear" or its precedents, "Ran's" plot is really quite simple as far as surface details go. The old feudal lord Hidetora believes he has become too old to handle his land holdings. He calls his three sons together (in "Lear" it is his daughters) and divides up the kingdom, giving the eldest full reign, the second a smaller but ample por tion. To his youngest son, Saburo, he gives exile because of the son's blunt honesty in the face of his brothers' hollow flattery. Slowly the elderly lord is phased out of the picture. He is denied an escort, a home, a seat of power, everthing, by his two eldest sons. Finally, he is forced to wander, mad and haunted through the stormy fields. He is an exile like Oedi pus, Ireland's Sweeney and Shake speare's Lear. In some ways the lord deserves his fate, his dose of evil and cruelty. He has won his large landholdings through impassioned bloodletting, cold brutal ity and an imperviousness to emotion. The true star of "Ran," though, is Kurosawa's vision, his serpentine tide of soldiers, his bubbling red paint Courtesy of Orion Classics blood splashed across the land with artist's care, the banners and strate gies that come off with majesty and horror. "Ran" lasts 2 hours and 41 minutes, bu the film is so fascinating, intelligent and emotive that it seems much shor ter. All in all, the film is too beautiful and too important to miss, a moral epic of the highest order. "Ran" plays at the Sheldon Film Theater Thursday through Sunday. Showings are at 7 and 9:45 p.m. with 3 p.m. matinees on Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $3.75. Heroes ruin images with public appearances Last week, as you've probably heard, Clint Eastwood was elected mayor of Carmel-By-The-Sea, Calif., population 4,800. I don't know how much more of this kind of thing I can take. Last week I shelled out hard-earned cash for the latest Rolling Stones Bill Allen album, only to find that I would have been better off sitting at home and listening to their old ones. Why didn't the Stones quit when they were legends? Then I read reports that Bob Dylan is touring with Tom Petty and the audi ences aren't that enthused. They actu ally like Petty's part of the concert Then, every time America bombs some foreign country I am constantly reminded that the "Death Valley Days" host I grew to love is now a senile old man who wears suits and eats off of china worth $50,000. So now, just as I'm borne back cease lessly into the past a past that's being plastered across the present like cheap wallpaper over beautifully stain ed redwood walls I find that Clint Eastwood really didn't ride off into the sunset after "The Good, The Bad, and the I'gly." Instead, I find he lives in some fancy house in California, probably eating quiche and having "some maid bring him his slippers so he can get up and greet the city council members when they stop by for mint juleps and pas tries. That's not the way I saw it ending for Clint Eastwood. Sure, somewhere in the back of my mind I realized he is just a movie star and that he really isn't that absolutely ice-cold cool. But I tried to never let that surface, just like you sometimes hide bad memories so you won't have to constantly deal with them over and over. And sure, I knew that Clint moved from those grainy, dirty spaghetti Westerns to an even dirtier Harry. But I could live with that. Dirty Harry was just a modern-day cowboy, a drifter and a man fighting for justice. My second favorite Eastwood movie was "Every Which Way But Loose," where he and his orangutan, Clyde, searched all over the western United Stat es in search of a woman who didn't care. It was an absolutely horrible movie filled with old pick-ups, bikers and country music, but it sticks to my ribs like the beans and bacon I imagined Clint would eat at every meal for the rest of his life. I watched it this week end on my VCR and loved it again. My parents laughed at the funny parts; my girlfriend's only comment was. "I don't like country music." I saw it as another angle in the career of a hero who would someday simply move to a back porch in the desert and sit in the sun with an ugly, happy dog and a horse tied nearby. ?vL. i - v (i . . , , , - N. I V." r,vNF r-vV V ift !LLT V V v ' : v : : , f i on 1 rU X i ill VMf 1 w" : Ron JelinekDaily Netraskan Where's Clint? Then he goes and gets himself sunset in an old pick-up with a Waylon elected as mayor of some fancy Califor- Jennings song drifting over the credits, nia town. I hope he at least makes a He owes us that much out of this atroc- movie about being mayor where he ity. shoots up city hall, rescues something Heroes shouldn't be allowed to exist or someone and drives off into the off the screen, at least not in public. CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING CALL 472-2568 S2 75 minimum charge per day on commercial ads Ten words included. S2 00 minimum charge per day on individual student and student organization ads. S.75 billing charge on noncommercial ads. All personal ads must be prepaid NO REFUNDS ON PRE-PAID ADS. NO RESPONSIBILITY ASSUMED FOR MORE THAN ONE INCORRECT INSERTION GOVERNMENT HOMES from S1. (U repair) Also delin quent lax property. Call 805-687 6000 Ext. GH-9636 for information. GOVERNMENT JOBS: S16.040-S59.230yr Now hiring. Call 805-687-6000 Ext. H-9636 for current federal list. Moving, must sell '81 Suzuki GS 450. red. will take best offer. 435-7577. 1971 Safeway mobile home. 2-bedroom. major applian ces sloraqe shed. Close to City Campus - will sell cheap. Available early June Call 474-2536 after 6 p.m. Jerry, keep tiymg 1984 Trek 610. 19 inch, excellent condition. S425-S450. 474-2229 days, 474-3011 evenings. Two Stevie Nicks tickets. Excellent seats. Call 483 5508. ACT NOW! DISKETTES Bulk 5-1 4" DS DD. 49 cents each. Lots of 50. These are not seconds. MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. No ques tions asked. Call Mel, 1-800-634-3478, 9-9 EST M-F; 10-6 Sat. Offer expires 51586. Kawasaki KH400 Low mileage, runs gieat. Best offer. After 8:30 p.m., 466-0228. Large. 2-bedroom condominium Excellent condition. Dining area, fireplace, balcony S41.000. Doreen 423-7579 or Harry Rotthaus 475-4444. 71 450 Honda, runs great, looks great. S300. 473-4442, answering service. Stevie Nicks Tix. rows 2 and 4. S30 each. Call Joe after 5:00. 466-8902. Moving, must sell '82 Trans Am. silverblack, low miles, great condition. Will take best offer. 435-7577. Sublease nice 1 bedroom apartment, close to campus. S260. 521 N 25, Apt. 2. 475-2982. Available May 15. Need to sublease 2-bedroom. low utilities, near East 1977 Cadillac El Dorado, 2-door coupe. If interested. Campus, S300. 464-7588, message. contact Linda at Burlington Employee's Credit Union, 464- 0297.8:30-5:00. 2003 "G" 3-bedroom duplex, S350. No children or pets. 466-1825. 1984 Ford Cougar, white, sharp & clean. Good school car. New tires, power steering, power oraKes & air condi tioning. 476-0181. 1975 Cutlass Supreme, Fully loaded, excellent condi- diAr tion. 476-0181. 1333 N. 22nd Nice 3-bedroom duplex, all appliances. CA. Washer Dryer hookups, fireplace, parking. S395 plus deposit. 477- iiic? hit !f 1975 Honda Civic. 28 mpg in town, $250. 483-4816 after 6 p.m. (tip aim 4-bedroom house furnished. $350. 475-0732. Newer 2-bedroom with fireplace and dishwasher. Sub lease for summer with option to rent. S377 plus low heat. 476-3986 after 5:00. For rent or sublease. 2-bedroom apt. 24 & W, $315. Available May 1. 475-6235.