Recommendations for samurai movies?

[Togakure]

Yes I have Kagemusha and Ran already.

I will probably watch Rashomon next.

Oops! I didn't re-read the thread and missed that you'd seen that already.

Rashomon is different, not a samurai movie really, but brilliant in its own way.

[caravel]

Oops! I didn't re-read the thread and missed that you'd seen that already.

Rashomon is different, not a samurai movie really, but brilliant in its own way.

Yes, I know what you mean, from what I've read, it's a Samurai movie but not really about war and the like. Though Seven Samurai was not really a Samurai Movie in the Ran/Kagemusha sense.

I may get time to watch it (Rashomon) over the weekend. I have in my possession about 16 Kurosawa movies that I haven't seen as yet - not all of them are Samurai/Medieval period. They're not copies/counterfeits, all originals, but I ordered them from overseas for a lot cheaper than I would have paid for just one movie over here.

[Takeo]

Watched Ran only recently, and I actually thought it was a horror movie!
Kurosawa's screenplay is visually very good, and the casts are also quite colorful. But I found some of the acting rather over-the-top, making the King seem hauntingly scary as he got mad. Also, the little clown was especially annoying throughout.
Don't think I would be watching it again...

[caravel]

Ran is based on Shakespeare's King Lear. The "Jester" actually played a good part IMHO - he was supposed to be rather annoying - but was also very philosophical. In my book it was a classic film, but may not be to everyone's tastes.

[gollum]

Originally posted by Takeo
Watched Ran only recently, and I actually thought it was a horror movie!
Kurosawa's screenplay is visually very good, and the casts are also quite colorful. But I found some of the acting rather over-the-top, making the King seem hauntingly scary as he got mad. Also, the little clown was especially annoying throughout.
Don't think I would be watching it again...

Your observations are spot on. Ran was a project that Kurosawa was planning and imagining for many years before he actually did it. So during that time he had storyboarded the whole movie frame by frame; he knew exactly what he wanted on screen - the challenge was in achieving the quality of the pictures he had envisioned - and i think he pretty much achieved it; the film is nothing short of spectacular visually.

The acting, like in Throne of Blood the other Shakespear adaptation he did, is borrowing heavily from Noh, the traditional Japanese theater. The most key difference between cinema acting and theater acting is that in cinema even the subtlest of moves can convey the essence of the scene as nothing escapes the camera lense and its zooms, while in theater, actions and voices need to be exagerated to be made visible and noticed by the audience. RAN is consciously theatrically acted, hence the over-the-top feeling.

The character of the fool, is somewhat extraneous in a Samurai court, this is clearly a European element. Being a fool, he can directly tell the truth masqueraded as a for-laughs-show. He also philosophises heavily, especially after Hidetora gets mad. Personally i dont find him annoying, although i understand why one may do so.