Comparative Assignment 2

In this assignment, you are to compare King Lear to Ran OR Ran to Throne of Blood. If you do the latter, you will still need to show how the films relate to their sources in Shakespeare.

Total time: 7 minutes (and I will time and cut you off) so please practice to make it fit into the allotted time. You may work with 1 other person in the class and share a topic, in which case you can have up to 10 minutes.

If you do a powerpoint, I will want a copy of it sent by email. If you do not do a powerpoint, then I will want your notes indicating what you spoke about.

Here are some suggested topics. I will also allow for other topics that you choose, but you must let me know what they are by next Thursday.

1Animal imagery: Fox imagery used in association with Kaede compared with how the Goneril and Regan are described as animals and birds of prey in King Lear.

2. The role of the fool in King Lear versus Kyoami in Ran. Note that the fool in Ran is understood as a Kyogen actor, and was played by "Peter," a well-known celebrity in Japan, who was gender-ambiguous. At key moments Kyoami performs kyogen dances that are read as commentary on the action, or actually incite events. How is this the same or different than the fool's role in King Lear?

3. The use of Noh in Ran versus how it is used in Throne of Blood to "theatricalize" the film aesthetically (thereby reminding the audience of its source in Shakespeare), as well as present the film's moral message. The character of Tsurumaru alludes to the blind prince in Semimaru and the banished child in Yoroboshi. What themes in the Noh plays resonate with the situation of Tsurumaru? How does the blinding of Tsurumaru work in terms of plot and theme in comparison to Gloucester's blinding? Issues to consider: when each blinding occurs in the plot and what causal effects each has (for example, how suddenly meeting Tsurumaru affects Hidetora); how the image of "blindness" works in the film and the play. 

4. Weather: how does it appear to reflect the external social chaos and the internal mental turmoil of Lear? How does Lear attempt to make it meaningful? What does it represent in Ran?

5. Villains 1: Kaede as Edmond in King Lear.What are their respective motivations? How does the way Kaede use Taro and Jiro compare to Edmund's relations with Goneril and Regan? Compare their deaths.

6. Villains 2: Kaede in Ran compared to Lady Macbeth and Asaji. What means does each use to manipulate those around her? How do Kaede and Asaji fit the Neo-Confucian negative stereotype of women who usurp power?

7. Good Guys: Compare and contrast the characters of Sue and Saburo with Cordelia in King Lear. Also, how are Sue and Kaede set up as contrasting figures?

8. Castles: Compare the natural world of the heath/plains versus the castles in King Lear and Ran. (Ruined castles and hovels are important to this question as well.) Consider the possibility that nature/culture is a false dichotomy.

9. Compare clothing/armor imagery in Shakespeare with samurai armor, weapons, and banners as symbolic of power relations in Ran (you can also include Throne of Blood). This could include banner color coding (eg. Yellow One = Taro, Red Two = Jiro, Blue Three = Saburo), use of guns versus swords, arrows, etc.

10. Sound and nothingingess: Discuss the ways that Kurosawa uses music in Ran. When does he use Noh flute? When western-style music? When silence? How might silence connect to the thematic of "nothing/nothingness" and nihilism in King Lear? In Macbeth? You might also compare Kurosawa's use of sound in Throne of Blood.