Wednesday, April 16, 1986
Daily Nebraskan
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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
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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.
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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
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Bulk 5-1 4" DS DD. 49 cents each. Lots of 50. These are
not seconds. MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. No ques
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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
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1975 Cutlass Supreme, Fully loaded, excellent condi- diAr
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1333 N. 22nd
Nice 3-bedroom duplex, all appliances. CA. Washer
Dryer hookups, fireplace, parking. S395 plus deposit. 477-
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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.
