Ran (1985) directed by Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa was one of the finest Shakesperian adaptations. Most of the Kurosawa films are in black & white. He used color like no other filmmaker used before him.
We can easily make two parts of Kurosawa’s whole cinematic career by dividing it into pre and post-1970. Dodes’ka-den was the first color film made by Kurosawa in 1970. Before that he made his all films in Black and White. Most of the Kurosawaits called it as pre and post-Mifune period. He has so much transformed his style of filmmaking when he shifted from Black and White to color.
Ran, Kurosawa’s samurai version of King Lear. We can easily see in every frame, there are vibrant primary colors. He channeled his inner expressionist painter by using all types of primary vibrant colors in a single frame. In Ran, Kurosawa uses colors as a symbol to communicate with his viewers. Just like the warm colors as symbols of danger and inappropriate passion. In the battle scenes of Ran, the yellows and red were represents courage and blood respectively. Not only just symbolic use of color but he silently guides the viewer’s gaze whenever he wanted to pay attention by making contrast and highlighting particular parts in bold just like important props, character costumes, or important parts in the frame.
For me, Kurosawa is one of the finest filmmakers of all time. Not just because of his way of storytelling but his understanding of human conditions and psychological relationships which we can see in our parts of the world too.