Ran by Akira Kurosawa.
I did enjoy the Oscars earlier this week. I thanked the heavens that Slumdog won Best picture, Best Director, and a slew of other awards instead of what I felt were inferior films that in a better year wouldn't even be nominated. And it was cool to see the Japanese win again for best foreign picture. It's been quite some time since they've been up on that podium. To celebrate Japan's return I am recommending one of Kurosawa's last pictures, which also won an Oscar, and it's one of the last great epic movies including a cast of over 1400 extras which had 1400 suits of armor fabricated for some of the sequences. It's amazing to see that many soldiers on camera and know that they are actual people instead of computer images. Kurosawa was Japan's greatest directors of all time and people have been stealing his stuff for over 50 years now from westerns to Star Wars. If you think I'm joking, go watch Hidden Fortress. He loved Shakespeare (like myself) and adapted a couple of his plays into movies. Throne of Blood was Macbeth re-imagined, and Ran as the story of King Leir set in feudal Japan. There is an outstanding performance from Mieko Harada who plays Lady Kage and she brings back memories of the parts Kurosawa used to have Mifune play in several of his earlier works before they had a falling out. Spielberg and Frances Ford Copula helped get this movie made,1 because they knew it would be great and and outstanding work of art, and 2 because they owed him from stealing so much from him when they were first starting out as directors. It's well worth your time so I highly recommend you enjoy it one night.
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