Ran1985
Ran (1985)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: Akira Kurosawa's sprawling, epic take on King Lear should be required viewing for fans of westerns, war movies, or period films in general.
Ran Photos
Movie Info
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Cast
as Lord Hidetora Ichimonji
as Tarotakatora Ichimonji
as Jiromasatora Ichimonji
as Saburonaotora Ichimonji
as Lady Kaede
as Lady Sue
as Kurogane
as Ikoma
as Tango
as Fujimaki
as Kyoami
as Kurogane
as Tsurumaru
as Naganuma
as Ayabe
as Ogura
as Shirane
as Naganuma
as Hatakeyama
Critic Reviews for Ran
All Critics (80) | Top Critics (24) | Fresh (77) | Rotten (3) | DVD (10)
Kurosawa may not be Shakespeare, but with images like these, he gets at something about the horror -- and hopelessness -- of being a man that is peculiarly his own.
Its true power is found in the small moments.
This is one of the year's major cinematic events. It's well worth leaving the house for, should that opportunity arise.
Ran remains gripping because it depicts not only the long-ago past, but also our hellish present.
Ran is one of the cinema's greatest works, a film of true tragic vision.
One of the supreme cinematic achievements of the last quarter-century.
Audience Reviews for Ran
At 75 years old, Kurosawa delivers this epic and breathtaking cinematic spectacle of disgrace and tragedy falling upon mortal men, a grandiose production with overwhelming war scenes and spellbinding visuals - even if also a bit long and repetitious in its second half.
Super Reviewer
An epic retelling of Shakespeare's "King Lear", detailing the actions of a ruthless king (Tatsuya Nakadai) and how his good intentions of dividing his kingdom amongst his three songs goes horribly awry, and a power struggle of biblical proportions unleashes itself upon this leader. This is a story loaded with intriguing themes such as guilt, power, violence, revenge, and insanity, and all of these come clashing together to form one huge beast of a film. Although, granted, it is slow-paced and the expository beginning goes on a little long, when it gets rolling it remains arresting and intense throughout. Nakadai's turn is simply sensational, as he fully captures the crippling insanity that threatened to tear this king asunder. The battle scenes are also a work of art, where the legendary director Akira Kurosawa really flexes his artistic muscles and conjures up some truly chilling moments. It falls a little short of perfect due to its beginning, but it is still a magnificent movie well worth a view.
Super Reviewer
Akira Kurosawa's Ran is a brilliant, sweeping picture using plenty of themes for build an incredible story. Greed and revenge are the themes explored in the film, and Kurosawa always managed to get the most out of his film because he crafts films that really resonate with the viewer. Ran is such a film. Brilliantly shot, acted and directed, the film, not only boasts effective performances, but has stunning imagery, which adds so much to the film. Fans of his work will definitely relish in the power that the film possesses. I much preferred Kurosawa's earlier work, but Ran is nonetheless a strong film that features all the trademarks that has made Kurosawa's work so good. With strong performances, and a simple, yet effective story, Ran is brilliant, poetic filmmaking that should be seen by any film buff. I really enjoy films that have simple ideas for storylines, and I find that the filmmaker is able to get much more depth out of an idea without overdoing anything, and the result is an impressive effort that ranks among the finest foreign films. Nonetheless, I still think that Seven Samurai was Akira Kurosawa's masterstroke of filmmaking. He has never topped it, but he always delivered thought provoking, epics that managed to be some of the finest films ever made. If you want a good action drama, then give this a viewing, it is a film going experience like no other, and it's one of the few foreign films that have stood the test of time. This is a film worth seeing, and it is enthralling experience from start to finish that will surely appeal to viewers looking for a film that has a simple idea, yet grand execution in style. That was what stood out for Akira Kuroswawa's work, his knack to create big, ambitious films while keeping everything to a bare minimum, as to not complicate things for the viewer and in the process, he created something quite remarkable in the cinematic medium.
Super Reviewer
Ran Quotes
| Lord Hidetora Ichimonji: | In a mad world, only the mad are sane. |
| Lord Hidetora Ichimonji: | What madness have I spoken? Wherein lies my senility? |
| Saburonaotora Ichimonji: | I'll tell you. What kind of world do we live in? One barren of loyalty and feeling. |
| Lord Hidetora Ichimonji: | I'm aware of that. |
| Saburonaotora Ichimonji: | So you should be! You spilled an ocean of blood. You showed no mercy, no pity. We too are children of thisage... weaned on strife and chaos. We are your sons, yet you count on our fidelity. In my eyes, that makes you a fool. A senile old fool! |
| Kurogane: | Saburo is not our only enemy. |
| Jiromasatora Ichimonji: | So what? If they attack, we retaliate. We grab their land and enlarge our own. |
| Kurogane: | Fine words, but words don't win wars. |
| Lord Hidetora Ichimonji: | The Great Lord goes nowhere alone. |
| Jiromasatora Ichimonji: | You renounced your power. You have no need of an escort. |