Portal:The arts/Featured article/October, 2006

Ran is a 1985 film written and directed by Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. It is a Jidaigeki (Japanese period drama) depicting the fall of Hidetora Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai), an aging Sengoku-era warlord who decides to abdicate as ruler in favor of his three sons. His kingdom slowly disintegrates as each son struggles for power, murdering rivals and laying waste to the land. Hidetora goes insane after watching his retainers slaughtered in an epic massacre, the centerpiece of the film. As the kingdom crumbles and rival warlords move in for the kill, the Ichimonji clan collapses in a culmination of revenge and betrayal as old scores are finally settled. The story is based on legends of the daimyō Mori Motonari as well as on the Shakespearean tragedy King Lear.

Ran was Kurosawa's last great epic. With a budget of $12 million it was the most expensive Japanese film ever produced. Kurosawa would direct three other films before he died, but none would be so large scale. The film was hailed for its powerful images and use of color – costume designer Emi Wada won an Academy Award for Costume Design for her work on Ran. The distinctive film score, written by Toru Takemitsu, plays in isolation with the normal sound muted–particularly as Hidetora's castle is destroyed.