316 Ran

[Drucker]

If you're seeing a DCP of Ran, there is almost certainly only one actively in circulation. It will probably be the one that forms the basis of the blu-ray reissue/Film Forum screenings from last year.

[tenia]

There is a DCP of this restoration, which is what I saw in theaters in 2015 at Lyon catalogue film festival.

[yoloswegmaster]

The theatrical rights to it is still with Rialto.

[hearthesilence]

MoMA screened a 35mm print for their Rialto retrospective (and to be clear, ALL of their prints and DCP's for this retrospective came from Rialto, and you can even see that in the opening logos). I just realized it's possible I've never seen this projected before - I'm glad I caught this print because it looks GORGEOUS. Everything from the color and the detail looked marvelous. The wear during the opening credits indicates it was not new and has gotten some usage, but overall it was in excellent shape. Best of all, they screened it in MoMA's biggest theater. This probably doesn't need further confirmation, but looking at DVDBeaver's screencaps afterwards, you can definitely say the 4K restoration is an abomination thanks to the ridiculous color - it looks like they dropped the negative into a vat of teal dye. It also appears that someone emailed Tooze years ago and said they saw a 35mm print at Film Forum that was struck from the OCN - I'm guessing what they showed tonight could very well be the same print. (Again, Rialto has a close relationship with Film Forum as Bruce Goldstein is also the repertory programmer there.)

And what a great film. I feel like my enthusiasm for this picture has gone up and down over time - I was always a fan, especially the first time I saw it on TV, but I think I went through a stretch where I thought it was too flawed to rank among Kurosawa's best films. This time around the strengths seem to overwhelm any arguable shortcomings. I haven't seen it in years and it really does resonate given the way the world's changed. It no longer feels like it's potentially too nihilistic - if anything, it's spot on. And the ideas have gained far more weight in the current sociopolitical climate - throughout the film, Hidetora is constantly reminded of his wrongdoings to build the kingdom his children are now fighting over. By the end, it really feels like a kingdom that was inherently tainted or corrupted by its violent history, and its fate was always inevitable, not because of destiny or some higher force but because nothing created in such a heinous manner can be preserved or sustained in peace and tranquility.

[Drucker]

Well now I'm kicking myself for bailing on the screening yesterday!

[tenia]

This probably doesn't need further confirmation, but looking at DVDBeaver's screencaps afterwards, you can definitely say the 4K restoration is an abomination thanks to the ridiculous color - it looks like they dropped the negative into a vat of teal dye.

Sadly predictable, and I'm not sure I'm "happy" it got a confirmation or frustrated that it's indeed confirmed the grading is non sensical.

[MichaelB]

I've always thought it was suspect. I saw the film in 35mm when it came out and quite a few times thereafter (we played it in rep regularly throughout the 1990s, so I had the luxury of being able to pop in to watch favourite bits), and it simply didn't look like the 4K version - the colours were much brighter, and more "primary" in that reds and yellows were allowed to be themselves without being tempered by teal.

[Michael Kerpan]

Is there any reasonably decent representation of the film on DVD/Blu?

[hearthesilence]

To be fair, even if Criterion had been able to release a Blu-ray as originally planned, it would probably have needed a fresh scan by now. (IIRC it would've been one of their first, before any of their masters were sourced from 4K scans and likely from the same HD transfer used for the DVD.)

Forgot to ask, were the end credits always in French? I hadn't noticed it before but it was all in French rather than English - I realize it was a French co-production, but if U.S. prints previously had English end credits, I wonder if this was simply a byproduct of accessing the best elements possible (presumably the OCN, if that applies to the end credits somehow)?

[jsteffe]

Forgot to ask, were the end credits always in French? I hadn't noticed it before but it was all in French rather than English - I realize it was a French co-production, but if U.S. prints previously had English end credits, I wonder if this was simply a byproduct of accessing the best elements possible (presumably the OCN, if that applies to the end credits somehow)?

It's been a while since I've seen the film on 35mm, but I remember the end credits being in French even during its initial release in the U.S. For some reason that stood out to me, and it was probably the first time that I grasped the concept of an international co-production.

[MichaelB]

They were definitely in French in the prints that I saw.

[Orlac]

Same with Nagisa Oshima's Realm/Empire films...I've only ever seen them with French credits.

[hearthesilence]

I'm starting to wonder if the "new" 40th anniversary 4K restoration opening at IFC really is a new restoration, in which case maybe we'll finally get a proper grading?

[hearthesilence]

MoMA screened their own 35mm print as part of another installment of their "A View from the Vaults" series. (This time, they focused on films from the 1980s.) I saw this not too long ago at MoMA so I nearly skipped it, but I ending up going and the film never fails to blow me away. It may very well be the greatest war film I've ever seen, and it's especially harrowing to watch now in the way it depicts hell-on-earth that is man's own making, the inevitable result of unbridled greed and heinous wrongs committed in the past that were never atoned for - there may have been a time where these elements played as abstract reflections, but this is far from the case now. This film doesn't entertain any illusions about war, if anything it addresses the mendacious romanticization of it head-on.

I compared it to the 4K UHD and it's still glaring how awful the color timing remains. In MoMA's archival 35mm print (which was in excellent condition save for minor nicks and scratches), the final, devastating shots play out under a red sky, as if the land had become as barren and lifeless as Mars. On the UHD, the red's been drained away and it just looks sickly and pale. And in the previous scene, when that horrific delivery is made wrapped in golden silk, the silk is also drained of color and looks comparatively sickly, whereas in the 35mm print, the golden silk is vibrant in a way that's fitting for royal clothing. Somebody really needs to rescue this film and correct this on the home viewing front.

[Lowry_Sam]

I saw Ran during its original theatrical release in a small arthouse theater in a college town in Germany (with German subtitles) in 1985. Most home video presentations have felt off to me. The scenes that really stick out for color/light are the earlier outdoor scenes which I remember being much more naturalistic (in contrast to the ending scenes) and therefore easier for me to compare from memory. Going by DVDBeaver's comaprisons of the ceremony on the lawn & horse scenes, #5 & #7 (blu-ray comparisons) and #3 & #5 (dvd comparisons): the Twister Digital (Russian) and Warner UK shots look closest to what I remember for those scenes. The latter scenes are much more cloudy for me because of their heightened use of color and lighting.

[hearthesilence]

I should emphasize the latter scenes were easiest to remember simply because they were the last ones I saw, so when I went straight home and popped in the disc, they were freshest in memory (which is why I went straight to the end when making the first comparisons). Otherwise, the main problem was seeing the teal or turquoise hues everywhere else in the movie - that shit was nowhere in the 35mm print (not unless you count the blue adorning the clothes, flags and men associated with Saburo, though you really can't mistake their sky blue color for teal or turquoise).

[tenia]

Yeah, it's definitely been Eclair'ed.