Gaze from the Heavens, Ghost from the Past: Symbolic Meanings in Toru Takemitsu's Music for Akira Kurosawa's Film, Ran (1985)
来自天堂的凝视，来自过去的幽灵：武满彻为黑泽明的电影《乱》（1985 年）创作的音乐中的象征意义

Keywords: Toru Takemitsu, Ran soundtrack, Noh flute, Akira Kurosawa, Tomoko Deguchi
关键词：Toru Takemitsu， Ran soundtrack， 能乐长笛， Akira Kurosawa， Tomoko Deguchi

Music for film comprises a large portion of Toru Takemitsu’s compositions; however, his innovative use of music and sound in film has yet to be explored in full. In this study, I investigate one of Takemitsu’s most successful film scores, the music for Akira Kurosawa’s film, Ran (1985). ${}^1$${}^1$^(1){ }^{1} I focus in this article on the two types of music that Takemitsu composed for Ran, which elicit and convey contrastive meanings in the film. Comprised of opposing musical attributes, the two types of music signify intricately related meanings of text, form, dramatic characterization, and background philosophy in the film, enhancing the film’s many
电影音乐占 Toru Takemitsu 作品的很大一部分;然而，他在电影中对音乐和声音的创新使用尚未得到充分探索。在这项研究中，我调查了武满彻最成功的电影配乐之一，即黑泽明的电影《兰》（1985 年）的音乐。 ${}^1$${}^1$^(1){ }^{1} 在这篇文章中，我重点介绍了武满彻为 Ran 创作的两种类型的音乐，它们在电影中引发并传达了对比鲜明的含义。这两种类型的音乐由对立的音乐属性组成，在电影中表示文本、形式、戏剧人物和背景哲学错综复杂的相关含义，增强了电影的众多意义

symbolic meanings and connotations. The first type is the solo flute music that is written in the style of traditional Japanese music, notably for the Japanese Noh theater. The second type is the Mahler-inspired symphonic music composed at Kurosawa’s request. It is now well known that Shakespeare’s tragedy King Lear provides the narrative of Kurosawa’s Ran; however, Kurosawa’s allusion to King Lear is mostly limited to its characters and its basic plot. This study demonstrates that the settings and the background aesthetics in Ran are entirely built on Japanese elements. Staged in the Japanese medieval age, the Japanese elements interspersed in Ran include the philosophical influence of Buddhism, various allusions to the Noh theater, and the perception of time as cyclic. Also, the historical background of the family depicted in the film and the family
象征意义和内涵。第一种类型是以日本传统音乐风格创作的长笛独奏音乐，特别是为日本能剧创作的。第二种类型是应黑泽明的要求创作的受马勒启发的交响乐。现在众所周知，莎士比亚的悲剧《李尔王》提供了黑泽明的《兰》的叙述;然而，黑泽明对李尔王的影射主要局限于它的人物和基本情节。这项研究表明，Ran 的背景和背景美学完全建立在日本元素之上。Ran 中穿插着日本元素，包括佛教的哲学影响、对能剧的各种典故以及将时间视为循环的感知。此外，电影中描绘的家庭和家庭的历史背景
members’ sense of loyalty are derived from a purely Japanese environment. In this framework, Takemitsu eloquently signifies and interprets these Japanese aesthetics in Ran’s adaptation of King Lear through his music. More significantly, it is through differences in the compositional styles of the two types of musicthe solo flute music and the symphonic music-that Takemitsu brings into the light two seemingly veiled omnipresences in the film: the blind hermit Tsurumaru and the gaze of the heavens.
会员的忠诚度来自纯粹的日本环境。在这个框架下，武满彻在冉通过他的音乐改编的《李尔王》中雄辩地表示和诠释了这些日本美学。更重要的是，正是通过长笛独奏和交响乐这两种音乐的作曲风格的差异，武满彻将电影中两个看似蒙蔽的无处不在的东西呈现出来：盲人隐士鹤丸和天堂的凝视。

The solo flute music is scored for three types of flutes: two kinds of traditional Japanese flute called the ryunteki and the shinobue, and in one instance the piccolo (doubled by oboe). ${}^2$${}^2$^(2){ }^{2} The solo flute music that is written in the style of Japanese traditional music conveys multiple meanings throughout the film, but first and foremost it individualizes one of the main characters, Tsurumaru, for whom the flute is virtually his identity. The wailing sound of the flute can be heard intermittently throughout the film as if to curse the warlord Hidetora, eventually plummeting him into downfall. The flute music is associated with Noh theater by the compositional style of the music and also by its role as framing of the jo-ha-kyū form of the film. Through the connection to Noh theater, which developed in the medieval ages with a strong Buddhist view of the world, and also through the non-developmental nature of the music, the flute music expresses the notion of history as cyclic. The compositional style used for the solo flute music contrasts significantly with the symphonic music used in extensive battle scenes. The combination of the dark, poignant, and lush symphonic music that is decidedly more universal in style, together with the muting of all source sound ${}^3$${}^3$^(3){ }^{3} in the battlefield, conveys a sense of detachment and timelessness. In stark contrast to the flute music that conveys human emotions, the symphonic music represents the vulnerable existence of humankind as a whole within history, as gazed from above. In my discussion, I analyze the two types of music in the context of the following issues: Shakespeare’s King Lear as a narrative model for Ran, Buddhist doctrine as an important framework for the historical and philosophical context of the film, and the dramatic significance of the allusions to Noh theater.
长笛独奏音乐分为三种类型的长笛：两种传统的日本长笛，称为 ryunteki 和 shinobue，以及一种短笛（双簧管加倍）。 ${}^2$${}^2$^(2){ }^{2} 以日本传统音乐风格创作的长笛独奏音乐在整部电影中传达了多重含义，但首先是它使主角之一鹤丸个性化，对他来说，长笛几乎是他的身份。在整部电影中，可以断断续续地听到笛子的哀嚎声，仿佛在诅咒军阀秀虎，最终使他陷入垮台。笛子音乐与能剧的构成风格以及它作为电影 jo-ha-kyū 形式的框架的作用有关。通过与中世纪以强烈的佛教世界观发展起来的能剧的联系，以及音乐的非发展性质，长笛音乐表达了历史是循环的概念。长笛独奏音乐的作曲风格与广泛战斗场景中使用的交响乐形成鲜明对比。黑暗、凄美和华丽的交响乐在风格上显然更加普遍，再加上战场上所有源声音 ${}^3$${}^3$^(3){ }^{3} 的静音，传达了一种超然和永恒的感觉。与传达人类情感的长笛音乐形成鲜明对比的是，交响乐代表了人类作为一个整体在历史中的脆弱存在，就像从上面凝视的那样。 在我的讨论中，我在以下问题的背景下分析了两种类型的音乐：莎士比亚的《李尔王》作为兰的叙事模式，佛教教义作为电影历史和哲学背景的重要框架，以及能剧典故的戏剧意义。

The film’s title Ran has been translated as “chaos” or “revolt,” but the single Chinese character ran also conveys connotations of upheaval, discord, turmoil, and anarchy, ${}^4$${}^4$^(4){ }^{4} which represents the turbulent time of the medieval period in Japan. Kurosawa exploits the similarities between the two plots of King Lear and Ran in two significant ways: (1) through parallel characters-King Lear’s three daughters are transformed into the warlord Hidetora’s three sons, Taro, Jiro, and Saburo, and the fool in King Lear parallels Kyoami, the fool in Ran (see Figure 1); and (2) through parallel plots-just as in King Lear, Hidetora’s two older children betray their father and drive him into insanity. At the end of the film, after reaching reconciliation, the third son and his father both die.
影片的片名 Ran 被翻译为“混乱”或“反抗”，但单个汉字 Ran 也传达了动荡、不和谐、动荡和无政府状态的含义， ${}^4$${}^4$^(4){ }^{4} 代表了日本中世纪时期的动荡时期。黑泽明以两个重要方式利用了李尔王和冉两个情节之间的相似之处：（1） 通过平行角色——李尔王的三个女儿变成了军阀秀虎的三个儿子，太郎、次郎和三郎，李尔王中的傻瓜与冉中的傻瓜京见平行（见图 1）;（2） 通过平行情节——就像在《李尔王》中一样，秀虎的两个大孩子背叛了他们的父亲，使他陷入疯狂。在影片的结尾，在达成和解后，第三个儿子和他的父亲都死了。

In using King Lear as a source for Ran, Kurosawa was puzzled that Shakespeare had not given his characters any past. In an article in the New York Times, Kurosawa states:
在将李尔王作为兰的来源时，黑泽明对莎士比亚没有给他的人物任何过去感到困惑。在《纽约时报》的一篇文章中，黑泽明指出：

Inspiration for the story first came from the legend of Motonari Moori (1497-1571), who was a warlord in medieval Japan, to which Kurosawa incorporated elements of King Lear. The story of the Moori legend is that the warlord gives each of his three sons an arrow and then orders each to break it. He then gives each a bundle of three arrows and demonstrates that it is more difficult to break the bundle than a single arrow. The allegory is that although an individual is weak, the combined power of three sons is stronger and not easily destroyed. Moori is also remembered for the political maxim that a leader should not trust anyone, particularly family members. ${}^6$${}^6$^(6){ }^{6} The legend of Moori accommodates rather than duplicates the plot of King Lear by adding the Japanese conception of family and political loyalty to the historical context of
这个故事的灵感首先来自中世纪日本的军阀 Motonari Moori （1497-1571） 的传说，黑泽明将李尔王的元素融入其中。Moori 传说的故事是，军阀给他的三个儿子每人一支箭，然后命令每个人折断它。然后，他给每个人一捆三支箭，并证明打破一捆箭比打破一捆箭更难。这个比喻是，虽然一个人很弱，但三个儿子的综合力量更强大，不容易被摧毁。Moori 还因一句政治格言而被人们铭记，即领导人不应该信任任何人，尤其是家庭成员。 ${}^6$${}^6$^(6){ }^{6} Moori 的传说通过将日本的家庭观念和政治忠诚添加到历史背景中，容纳而不是复制了李尔王的情节。

Figure 1: Comparison of the main characters in Ran and King Lear
图 1：《冉》和《李尔王》中主要角色的比较

Ran. However, this characterization leads to greater emphasis on the generic notion of the behavior of men and history, thus relating more to the cyclicality of history and not to each individualized person. In conjunction with Kurosawa’s abstraction of the three sons’ names, the characters of each tend towards generic representations. The names of the three sons (Ichiro, Jiro, and Saburo) literally translate in Japanese as “first son,” “second son,” and “third son,” which serves to emphasize the hierarchical position in the family system. Also, each son is given a symbolic color for his robes, banners, and pennants: yellow for Taro, red for Jiro, and blue for Saburo. Moreover, the number of horizontal lines on the pennants corresponds to their names. In this way, Kurosawa reduces the individuality of the sons to mere generic icons, emphasizing the more universal notion of “sons in a family system,” rather than on their personalities and their inner emotions.
跑。然而，这种特征导致更加强调人和历史行为的一般概念，从而更多地与历史的周期性有关，而不是与每个个体化的人有关。结合黑泽明对三个儿子名字的抽象化，每个儿子的字符都倾向于通用表示。三个儿子的名字（一郎、次郎和三郎）在日语中直译为“长子”、“二儿子”和“三儿子”，用于强调家庭系统中的等级地位。此外，每个儿子的长袍、旗帜和三角旗都被赋予了象征性的颜色：黄色代表太郎，红色代表次郎，蓝色代表三郎。此外，三角旗上的水平线数量与它们的名称相对应。通过这种方式，黑泽明将儿子的个性简化为纯粹的通用图标，强调“家庭系统中的儿子”这一更普遍的概念，而不是他们的个性和内心情感。

However, there is one important character in Ran who does not have a corresponding character in King Lear. Viewers of Ran likely will remember most vividly the source music of the transverse flute played by the blind hermit Tsurumaru in the scene when Hidetora encounters Tsurumaru in the wilderness. While there is no character corresponding to Tsurumaru in King Lear, Edgar, who disguises himself as a madman and whom the king encounters in the wilderness, is perhaps the only equivalent character to Tsurumaru in King Lear. However, there is one essential difference between these two characters: Tsurumaru’s hatred toward Hidetora comes from their past relationship, while Edgar, the son of Gloucester in the sub-plot of King Lear, subsequently takes revenge for his father’s mistreatment. The reference to Tsurumaru’s blindness might come as well from the fact that Gloucester is blinded in the course of King Lear. ${}^7$${}^7$^(7){ }^{7}
然而，冉中有一个重要的角色，他在李尔王中没有相应的角色。Ran 的观众可能会最清楚地记得盲人隐士 Tsurumaru 在荒野中遇到 Tsurumaru 的场景中演奏的横笛的源音乐。虽然《李尔王》中没有与鹤丸对应的角色，但埃德加伪装成疯子，国王在荒野中遇到他，也许是与《李尔王》中的鹤丸唯一对应的角色。然而，这两个角色之间有一个本质的区别：鹤樣对秀虎的仇恨来自他们过去的关系，而《李尔王》支线剧情中格洛斯特的儿子埃德加随后为父亲的虐待进行了报复。提到鹤丸的失明也可能来自格洛斯特在《李尔王》中失明的事实。 ${}^7$${}^7$^(7){ }^{7}

Tsurumaru plays a crucial role in this film as a victim of Hidetora’s past brutal conduct. When Hidetora was expanding his property by demolishing his rivals, massacring their men and other family members, Tsurumaru as a youth was blinded in exchange for his life. When Hidetora has lost his sanity and has been wandering in the heath with his fool Kyoami and his loyal retainer Tango, they find their way to Tsurumaru’s dilapidated hut. Tsurumaru plays the flute as the sole entertainment for the guests (Example 1). ${}^8$${}^8$^(8){ }^{8} By confronting Tsurumaru, Hidetora temporarily regains his sanity; but as a result of hearing the highpitched shrieking cry and the fluctuating tones of the flute penetrating the hearts of the listener, Hidetora realizes the agony and suffering he caused Tsurumaru. Haunted by the sound of the flute, he wanders back into the wilderness and into insanity. ${}^9$${}^9$^(9){ }^{9} The music in this scene is played by the Japanese instrument called the shinobue, which is similar to the nohkan that is used in the Japanese Noh theater. ${}^{10}$${}^{10}$^(10){ }^{10} The flute is the only wind instrument used in Noh theater besides the three drums. In the film, subtle, but abundant use of drums often accompanies the solo flute written in Noh style and other music. The short segments of solo flute music are interspersed at key moments, punctuating the narrative and the form of the film. The instrument
鹤丸在这部电影中扮演着至关重要的角色，是秀虎过去残忍行为的受害者。当秀虎通过摧毁他的竞争对手、屠杀他们的男人和其他家庭成员来扩大他的财产时，年轻时的鹤丸为了换取他的生命而失明。当秀虎失去理智，与他的傻瓜京见和他忠诚的家臣丹吾在荒野中徘徊时，他们找到了鹤丸破旧的小屋。鹤丸吹笛子是客人唯一的娱乐活动（示例 1）。 ${}^8$${}^8$^(8){ }^{8} 通过与鹤丸对峙，秀虎暂时恢复了理智;但是，由于听到了高亢尖锐的尖叫声和笛子的波动音调穿透了听众的心，秀虎意识到了他给鹤丸带来的痛苦和痛苦。他被笛声所困扰，徘徊回到荒野中，陷入了疯狂。 ${}^9$${}^9$^(9){ }^{9} 这个场景中的音乐是由一种叫做 shinobue 的日本乐器演奏的，它类似于日本能剧中使用的 nohkan 。 ${}^{10}$${}^{10}$^(10){ }^{10} 笛子是能剧中除了三个鼓之外唯一使用的管乐器。在电影中，微妙但丰富的鼓声经常伴随着以能乐风格创作的笛子独奏和其他音乐。长笛独奏音乐的简短片段穿插在关键时刻，点缀着电影的叙事和形式。仪器