[AnotherUnixGeek]

Doing a complete race change of a cast can sometimes work, and sometimes fail horribly, for example Kurosawa’s Ran, after Shakespeare’s King Lear; and the patronizing The Wiz, after the Wizard of Oz.

Do you mean that "Ran" did work while "The Wiz" didn't? If so, I'd agree about "Ran" (I never saw "The Wiz"). I thought "Ran" was an amazing movie by a great director. It's not something I can watch often, but it's something I find myself watching again every year or so.

[Tax-chick]

I agree “Ran” is great.

[aquila48]

I’ll have to check out Ran...

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Ran is magnificent, a flawless adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear, with a Japanese cast, in Japan.

The Wiz is not even worth a look. It is a “ghettoized” version of The Wizard of Oz, in the lowest form of patronizing the entirely black cast.