Ah, King Lear. One of the best tragedies ever written by William Shakespeare. This timeless tale of a king who misjudges his children's love for him has been performed and adapted over and over again. This one, Ran (Japanese for rebellion) by filmaker Akiro Kurosawa, resets the story in Feudal Japan. Instead of a king, Lear is a daimyo. The three daughter are replaced with three sons, and the character of the bastard Edmund is also gender-flipped in the role of the scheming and vengeful woman Lady Kaede.
The plot is as follows: The aging warlord Hidetora Ichimonji decides to hand over the reigns to his threes sons Taro (Goneril), Jiro (Regan), and Saburo (Cordelia). As in the original play, Taro and Jiro flatter their father, whereas Saburo refuses to and disagrees with his father's plan. For that he banished along with Lord Tango (Earl of Kent) when the latter defends him. After that, Taro and Jiro wage war upon each other, sending Hidetora into madness, and the kingdom into destruction.
What was really striking was Lady Kaede, Jiro, and Kurogane. While Hidetora didn't quite cover himself with glory when he killed Kaede's family in a previous war, it is clear that she only cares about herself. It is unclear as to whether Lady Sue is related to her or not, but Kaede is willing to use and kill innocent people for her own gain. Jiro, like Regan, proves spineless and just goes along with what anyone says, whether it be Taro or Kaede. Kurogane (who you could say might represent Goneril's husband the Duke of Albany), may be no stranger to killings and assassination, outright refuses to just kill someone on a whim, and when he finds out that someone acting on Kaede's orders had murdered someone in cold blood, he's furious.
The only bad part of this film is the director's belief in pessimism. Not that it makes the movie any bad, but Kurosawa could have turned the pessimism down a few notches.
This movie is a must see for anyone who likes Shakespeare adaptations of any sort.
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