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| Source: Wikipedia |
A wild-eyed old warlord has three sons, creatively named First Son, Second Son, and Third Son.
A time-tested moron, the old man trusts the two suck-ups, but banishes the loyal son who dares question his dad's dumb decisions. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, this turns out to be a shitty idea. The heir takes over before Dad's kicked the bucket, then kicks out his dad to boot (and a handful of loyal retainers). The other son schemes to usurp the usurper, provoked by his scheming wife Kaede (best described as: crouching violet, hidden HOLYSHIT BADASS PSYCHOBITCH).
The ponderously slow windup is worth the wait -- fully charged, the potential energies ignite a perpetual bloodbath machine. And of course the destruction looks wonderful. The castle siege. The color-coded clash of armies. The well-intentioned but disastrous plot to return the deposed lord to power and sanity.
The colors. Did I mention the colors? Because they're amazing. The kimonos, the armor, the interior decoration, and oh so much fire. Zero CGI, just colors and motion.
Hell, I'll say it -- this is probably the most beautiful live-action movie I've ever seen. To dump more hyperbole fuel on the blazing altar-fire of ego-wank.
Like absolute statements and rave reviews, you don't need a Shakespeare background to understand the story, but it provides excellent shorthand. Literature scholars recognize certain elements. Poetic irony and senseless tragedy, often the same thing; on-again, off-again mental illnesses; surprisingly convincing disguises; the "wise fool" archetype (who has no equivalent in ancient Japan and instead seems like a lost time-traveler gone mad with boredom for lack of Internet). And death, death, death.
What were you expecting from Shakespeare, a happy ending?
Watch it. For the plot, for the spectacle, just to say you did it, who cares, just do it. A Kurosawa epic is more than mere entertainment. This is ART.
160 minutes.
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