Akira Kurosawa-Ran (1985)

With Ran, legendary director Akira Kurosawa reimagines Shakespeare's King Lear as a singular historical epic set in sixteenth-century Japan. Majestic in scope, the film is Kurosawa's late-life masterpiece, a profound examination of the folly of war and the crumbling of one family under the weight of betrayal, greed, and the insatiable thirst for power. Criterion




A story of Greed, a lust for power, and ultimate revenge. The Great Lord Hidetora Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai) has decided to step aside to make room for the younger blood of his three sons, Taro (Akira Terao), Jiro (Jinpachi Nezu), and Saburo (Daisuke Ryu). The Lord's only wish now being to live out his years as an honored guest in the castle of each of his sons in turn. While the older two sons flatter their father, the youngest son attempts to warn him of the folly of expecting the three sons to remain united, enraged at the younger sons' attempt to point out the danger, the father banishes him. True to the younger sons' warning however, the Oldest Son soon conspires with the Second Son to strip The Great Lord of everything, even his title. The story follows the decent of the old man into madness, the machinations of treachery and deceit by the two older sons and their downfall, and the loyalty of the youngest who ultimately rescues his father. But in the end it is the past deeds of The Great Lord that bring on the final battle and end the era of the Lord Hidetora and his clan. (http://imdb.com/title/tt0089881/plotsummary)




This epic tragedy might have been attempted by a younger director, but only the Japanese master Akira Kurosawa, who made the film at age 75, could bring the requisite experience and maturity to this stunning interpretation of Shakespeare's King Lear. It's a film for the ages–one of the few genuine screen masterpieces–and arguably serves as an artistic summation of the great director's career. (–Jeff Shannon - Editorial Reviews - Amazon.com)




In this version of the Shakespeare tragedy, the king is a 16th-century warlord (Tatsuya Nakadai as Lord Hidetora) who decides to retire and divide his kingdom evenly among his three sons. When one son defiantly objects out of loyalty to his father and warns of inevitable sibling rivalry, he is banished and the kingdom is awarded to his compliant siblings. The loyal son's fears are valid: a duplicitous power struggle ensues and the aging warlord witnesses a maelstrom of horrifying death and destruction. Although the film is slow to establish its story, it's clear that Kurosawa, who planned and painstakingly designed the production for 10 years before filming began, was charting a meticulous and tightly formalized dramatic strategy. As familial tensions rise and betrayal sends Lord Hidetora into the throes of escalating madness, Ran (the title is the Japanese character for "chaos" or "rebellion") reaches a fever pitch through epic battles and a fortress assault that is simply one of the most amazing sequences on film. (–Jeff Shannon - Editorial Reviews - Amazon.com)