The Frida Cinema is proud to present a four night limited engagement of Ran, Akira Kurosawa’s final epic masterpiece. Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, we want to thank Rialto Pictures for their stunning new 4K restoration of the film.

A grand and visually breathtaking reimagining of Shakespeare’s King Lear, Ran explores themes of power, betrayal, and the devastating consequences of human folly. Set against the backdrop of feudal Japan, Kurosawa employs sweeping landscapes, intricate battle sequences, and vivid color symbolism to create a world teetering on the edge of chaos.

Thirty years after its original release, Studiocanal decided to restore Ran in 4K in collaboration with the Japanese company Kadokawa. In 1985, the production of the original film was possible thanks to a French-Japanese collaboration and 30 years later, Studiocanal and Kadokawa replicated this partnership to restore the film. Ran has been restored in 4K by the French laboratory Éclair, under Studiocanal’s supervision. Based on an original negative, the majority of the restoration work was done manually, image by image. Color grading was approved by Masaharu Ueda, one of Ran‘s three cinematographers and a close associate of Kurosawa’s.