Ran (1985)

“A decade—and arguably an entire career—in the making, Akira Kurosawa’s last great masterpiece, 1985’s Ran (“chaos”), is one of the rare spectacles that’s more than mere spectacle, a prismatic work containing riches beyond its justly celebrated battle sequences.” — Scott Tobias, The A.V. Club

SYNOPSIS

Outsized in scale and vividly grand in vision, Akira Kurosawa’s late-career masterpiece reimagines Shakespeare’s King Lear amid the bloody upheavals of Japan’s Sengoku era. As aging warlord Hidetora Ichimonji (the legendary Tatsuya Nakadai) divides his domain among his three sons, long-simmering rivalries and betrayals erupt into a cycle of violence that threatens to consume an entire kingdom. Featuring an extraordinary ensemble cast, including Mieko Harada as the implacable Lady Kaede and queer icon Peter as the court fool Kyoami, Ran marries Shakespearean tragedy to some of the most breathtaking images ever committed to film. Kurosawa spent years storyboarding the production through vivid color paintings, many completed as his eyesight steadily failed. The result is an apocalyptic vision of human folly, where medieval warfare becomes a spectacle of power, vengeance, and technological violence in a world hurtling toward ruin. At once war epic, family drama, and cosmic lament, Ran remains one of the crowning achievements of world cinema.

Presented in 4K.