Ran (1985)

An elderly lord abdicates to his three sons, and the two corrupt ones turn against him.

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Akira Kurosawa (screenplay), Hideo Oguni (screenplay),

Stars:

Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu

Top 250 #131 | Won 1 Oscar. Another 28 wins & 16 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tatsuya Nakadai	...	Lord Hidetora Ichimonji
Akira Terao	...	Taro Takatora Ichimonji
Jinpachi Nezu	...	Jiro Masatora Ichimonji
Daisuke Ryû	...	Saburo Naotora Ichimonji
Mieko Harada	...	Lady Kaede
Yoshiko Miyazaki	...	Lady Sue
Hisashi Igawa	...	Shuri Kurogane
Pîtâ	...	Kyoami
Masayuki Yui	...	Tango Hirayama
Kazuo Katô	...	Kageyu Ikoma
Norio Matsui	...	Shumenosuke Ogura
Toshiya Ito	...	Mondo Naganuma
Kenji Kodama	...	Samon Shirane
Takashi Watanabe
Mansai Nomura	...	Tsurumaru (as Takeshi Nomura)

Storyline

A story of greed, a lust for power, and ultimate revenge. The Great Lord Hidetora Ichimonji has decided to step aside to make room for the younger blood of his three sons, Taro, Jiro, and Saburo, 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 son's attempt to point out the danger, the father banishes him. True to the younger son's warning, however, the oldest Son soon conspires with the second son to strip The Great Lord of everything, even his title.

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Plot Keywords:

Power | Castle | Greed | Revenge | Blood | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama | War

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Japan France

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

1 June 1985 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Revolt

Filming Locations:

Aso, Kumamoto, Japan

Box Office

Budget:

$11,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$3,567 (USA) (30 June 2000)

Gross:

$116,872 (USA) (17 September 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Greenwich Film Productions, Herald Ace, Nippon Herald Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

162 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby (35 mm prints) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Several hundred costumes were all created by hand, a process that took two years.

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Goofs

When Saburo's men ride away from the Third Castle, you can see that the path before them has already been trampeled from previous takes.

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Quotes

Kyoami: Are there no gods... no Buddha? If you exist, hear me. You are mischievous and cruel! Are you so bored up there you must crush us like ants? Is it such fun to see men weep?

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Connections

Version of King Lear (1971)

User Reviews

Pain and beauty are not mutually exclusive

Ran takes viewers to a place they would rather not explore on their own. In a world of cruelty, Kurasowa has shown how the moments within the horror can have beauty. Shakespeare wrote King Lear as a mirror on the human condition. We do not have to be kings and princesses to identify with the father's desire for the well being of his children, even if his own life was one of cruelty and pain. We see this theme throughout great literature and film. What Ran has done is to provide the viewer with many small moments within the pain to realize the beauty. Even the moment of epiphany for Hidetora, when his actions achieve his madness, is one of surpassing beauty. As the storm rages outside the small house of the prince he blinded, whose parents he killed, whose sister he forcibly married off, the simple sounds of the flute provide an intense focus on the here and now. It is at this moment when Hidetora recognizes that he himself sowed the seeds of his own destruction. There is no dialogue, no swashbuckling, just the terrible beauty of the music. As with many of Kurasowa's films, despite their epic scope, it is the small paint strokes that make up the master's canvas.