Start the week with a film: In ‘Ran’, a family succession plan leads to chaos and carnage
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William Shakespeare’s plays have been widely adapted across the world. Plot points, entire storylines, characters, lines, themes – deep is the Shakespeare well and numerous are those who drink from it. Few filmmakers have approached Shakespeare as thoughtfully as the Japanese master Akira Kurosawa.
Kurosawa’s three Shakespeare adaptations – Throne of Blood (based on Macbeth), The Bad Sleep Well (based on Hamlet) and Ran (based on King Lear) – interpret the source text rather than merely lifting scenes or dialogue, creating visually sumptuous commentaries on Japanese society.
In Ran (1985), which can be rented on Prime Video, King Lear yields both stunning spectacle and piercing study of ruthless ambition.
Ran is set in sixteenth-century Japan. Lear’s three daughters are now the three sons of the veteran warlord Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai).
In a rare moment of generosity, Ichimonji abdicates his position and name his eldest son Taro (Akira Tera) as his heir. The second son Jiro (Jinpachi Nezu) instantly reacts adversely, while the youngest, Saburo (Daisuke Ryu), scolds Ichimonji for his rashness.
This is a highly codified and ritualistic world, in which the patriarch must always show strength and authority. Ichimonji’s first mistake is to acknowledge his fallibility. By admitting publicly to his advanced age and expressing remorse for his previous conquests, Ichimonji violates the feudal code. His vulnerability is seen...