Ran is Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's rendering of Shakespeare's King Lear, mixed with an adaptation of the legends of the Japanese daimyō, Mōri Motonari. It was produced in 1985 to critical acclaim, and is widely considered one of the greatest films in cinematic history. At the time of its release, costume designer Emi Wada won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, and many praised its exceptional visual composition.
The film tells the story of warlord Ichimonji Hidetora as he tries to gauge which of his three sons is to be trusted as the heir to his throne. While Taro and Jiro his elder sons are exceptionally flattering, their flattery proves empty when they reveal just how power-hungry they each are. Only Saburo, his youngest son, whom he banished from his kingdom, is invested in his father's interests. The film follows Ichimonji's search for security and acceptance in his old age, and his eventual and tragic reunion with Saburo.
The film was Kurosawa's most expensive film, with a budget of $11 million. It was also Kurosawa's final epic. It was shot in various locations in Japan, with a great many long shots and often on three cameras, simultaneously. Upon its release, critics raved about the film, with Pauline Kael writing for The New Yorker, "It's a totally conceptualized work—perhaps the biggest piece of conceptual art ever made. For the first 40 minutes or so, the picture is all preparation, and it seems dead, but then the preparation begins to pay off, and by the end the fastidiousness and the monumental scale of what Kurosawa has undertaken can flood you with admiration."
