New York Times film critic A.O. Scott has recorded a three-and-a-half-minute piece on Ran under his “Critics’ Picks” series. The video can be seen at YouTube.

Although just a very short introductory piece, I find Scott’s video quite good. Or, it did at least make me want to watch the film again. Although, it could also well be Takemitsu’s haunting score and the imagery that Scott had cherry picked from the movie. In any case, I think that the video serves its purpose in getting people interested in the film.

A personal anecdote: when I first saw Ran back in the early 90s from a low quality rental pan & scan VHS tape, I ended up watching it three times in a row without taking a break. That’s 480 minutes of Ran in one sitting. It would probably be an understatement to say that I was mesmerised by the film.