The making of Kurosawa’s Ran

Akira Kurosawa made some of the best movies of all time.

Although the most famous is The Seven Samurai, Others such as Rashomon, Ikiru and Kagemusha are equally brilliant in their own quite different ways.

In 1984 he made another master piece, Ran, which I urge you to see. It’s based on King Lear, and is full of blood, fire and Machiavellian wives (you will also spot many of Tarantino’s influences).

The DVD version I have comes with a fascinating ‘making of’ documentary. It demonstrates the incredible attention to detail that it takes to produce a masterpiece, particularly in the face of having to get your shots through mist, rain and the use of hundreds of horses. Here’s part of it: