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Greetings,
I'm hoping some of you can be of some help and tell me a little about Takemitsu's score for Kurasawa's "Ran."
I see Footlight has a double disc album of this score at their website, but am interested in hearing more about it.
What does it sound like? Are there audio samples somewhere?
I'm a great admirer of Takemitsu's classical work and am interested in learning more about his film work. This film in particular is often brought up as one of his "staples" in film scoring.
Thanks!
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I would also add that them music,for the most part,is very traditional sounding.Lots of small orchestral cues,verging on the chamber in size.It's more oriental sounding than some others.You'll need to give it a lot of attention to'get into it'.There are many passages of wispy solos from the likes of the flute.
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Ran is a hard score to describe. It has an undeniable effect on the movie which is certainly one of Kurosawa's better works from the latter part of his career.
Takemitsu uses one motif very often and shows up most prominently in "Hell's Picture Scroll". It's a very dark, brooding piece of music that underscores the invasion of a castle (no SFX so the cue really carries the scene). If you can appreciate this kind of music, then this track alone makes it worth the purchase.
My only gripe is that the 2 CD version has A LOT of short incidental cues which really go nowhere. Disc 1 is the OST, then Disc 2 is a series of outtakes, alternate versions, etc...and two suites which made up an LP and CD released through Milan I think). When the music has time to breath though (as in "Hell's Picture Scroll") it is a really complex and fascinating score. The two afformentioned suites are the best way to experience the music as each sums up a different side of the music. I'd say go for the release with these two suites, but I think it's looooong out of print.
A lot of the cues are taiko drums and/or flutes that last for anywhere from 13 seconds to 1 minute. The film itself is very sparsely scored (like a lot of Kurosawa movies), so this is to be somewhat expected. This is kinda why the suites work so well since it condenses the short pieces.
Anyway, it's dark, it's heavy, almost completely uses Japanese instruments, and it's sometimes hard to enjoy. If that appeals to you though, the grab it while it's still around. Traditional Japanese music appeals to me a lot, and the movie is great...so I took a chance on Takemitsu with this.
I highly suggest you see the movie though. It's very good, and will help you see how the music is used. It definitely is not a grand and sweeping symphonic piece with sprinklings of Japanese sounds (quite the contrary).
Hope this helps!
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Milan has rereleased the two suites and the full score on one CD. Remastered and nicely designed, this is a welcome new CD implementation of Toru Takemitsus sad and beautiful score.
Btw. the sound is much improved over the Kurosawa Box. Especially the score tracks sound muddled on the japanese edition.
How does this version compare with the Toho Japanese 2CD set? Or is that set the same as in the Kurosawa box?
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