Ran
Short description
Set in sixteenth-century Japan, Ran centres on Hidetora Ichimonji, an ageing warlord who decides to step back from power and divide his lands among his three sons, Taro, Jiro and Saburo. The youngest questions the plan, warning that it will bring ruin, and is cast out for speaking against his father. The two elder brothers soon turn on one another, and their rivalry over the inheritance grows into open war that threatens the whole house.
Akira Kurosawa directed and co-wrote the film with Hideo Oguni and Masato Ide, working from an idea inspired by Shakespeare's King Lear. It was his twentieth film as director in chronological order, following Kagemusha and preceding Dreams. Tatsuya Nakadai plays Hidetora, with Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu and Daisuke Ryū as his sons, and Mieko Harada and Yoshiko Miyazaki among the cast.
The production, a French and Japanese co-production, cost about 12 million dollars and returned roughly 23 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 8.2 out of 10 from over 133,000 votes, and on TMDB 8 out of 10 from a smaller body of voters, while a critics' rating of 9 out of 10 across 92 reviews places it above both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Several hundred costumes for the film were handmade. This laborious process took two years. The design of the warriors' clothing was developed by the film's director, Akira Kurosawa.
- The castle, destroyed in the middle of the film, was specially built on the slope of Mount Fuji and then burned down.
- According to Kurosawa, his previous film 'Kagemusha: The Shadow Warrior' (1980) was a rehearsal for 'Ran'.
- For 10 years, Kurosawa sketched every frame of the future film. Ultimately, these drawings were published along with the screenplay for "Ran".
- By the time filming began, Kurosawa was nearly blind, so he had to construct each shot with the help of assistants, for whom the director's sketches served as a guide.
- The film's plot is partially based on Shakespeare's tragedy "King Lear," and partially on samurai legends.
- Approximately 1400 extras and 200 horses were involved in the filming, some of which were brought from the USA.
- Kurosawa's wife, Yoko Yaguchi, who was 64 years old at the time, died during the filming of this movie. Kurosawa interrupted work for only one day of mourning.
- One of the film's scenes appears in the opening sequence of the game "Shogun: Total War".
- Several hundred costumes for the film were handmade, a process that took two years.
- According to Kurosawa, his previous film, 'Kagemusha,' served as a rehearsal for this one.
- Akira Kurosawa spent 10 years creating the storyboards.
- By the time filming began, Kurosawa was nearly blind, so he had to compose every shot with the help of assistants.
- Akira Kurosawa's wife passed away during the filming of this movie. Kurosawa paused work for only one day.
- The castle destroyed in the middle of the film was specially built for the shoot.
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