What is ‘Ran’ About?
The title,Ran,can be translated as chaos, or tumult.
One day, picnicking after a hunt with his sons and neighboring lords, the aging Hidetora drifts asleep.
He is banished for his impertinence.
Saburo turns out to be correct.
Kaede is not merely a social climber, though.
Hidetora is humiliated by Toro’s lack of deference, and retreats to live with Jiro.
On the heels of another devastating loss, Blackthorne struggles to understand his true purpose in Japan.
After Hidetora is thrown out by his second son, he is banished from his territory.
How Similar Is ‘Ran’ to ‘King Lear’?
So, he’s no stranger to drawing inspiration from Shakespeare.But how close of an adaptation isRan?
The youngest child rejects the terms of their inheritance and is banished.
Image via Toho
Where it deviates from the plot,Ranfrequently recycles elements ofKing Learinto new contexts.
An innocent person has their eyes gouged out.
An insider schemes against the family to escalate the conflict.
You could say thatRanhas all the necessaryKing Lear"canon events."
(I’m not saying that you should say it, but you could.)
Kurosawa wanted to invert that story to make the sons terrible.
Saburo breaks all three arrows together over his knee.
More like Lear’s echo.
“Ranrepresents Kurosawa’s singular vision.
Ranis available to watch on Prime Video in the U.S.
Watch on Prime Video
