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Absolutely the worst movie.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Greetings from Lithuania.To shortly sumarize "Ran" (1985), a movie made by a legendary Akira Kurosawa - this is a great movie. It is superbly crafted, greatly acted and written and wonderfully directed. There are few battle scenes, but both are memorable in its own way - especially the haunting castle siege scene done without sound effects, accompanied only by haunting score - amazing sequence. I also highly enjoyed the story itself - its shows that one has to know how to give a power to the others, even if others are his family and how it can turn out if its done not in a right way - something to be learned even in these times.Overall, "Ran" is a pure classic. Superbly made with themes that done age - this is sure must see for everyone who appreciate great cinema.

A period epic brought to life in exhausting detail, Akira Kurosawa's Ran is a splendidly crafted tale of power, corruption, treachery, vengeance & insanity and is efficiently realised on the film canvas with its meticulous set pieces, sweeping camera-work & committed performances but its overlong runtime & glacial pace may not go well with everyone.The story of Ran follows a powerful but elderly warlord who hands over his vast empire to his three sons after choosing to retire. Expecting his sons to maintain harmony amongst themselves & keep the kingdom united, he vastly underestimates the corrupting nature of power he had just bestowed upon them and haplessly watches them turn on each other as well as him.Co-written, edited & directed by Akira Kurosawa, Ran is an ambitious production by all means and Kurosawa leaves no stone unturned to recreate the era his narrative is set in. Making effective use of colour palette, long-shot photography, vast landscapes, period-specific costumes & extensive list of extras, it delivers as an epic but what benefits it most is the strong foundation in the script.Despite all the chaos brewing in the kingdom, Ran is mainly about the downfall of a once mighty king and covers his descent into madness. Taking inspiration from Shakespeare's play, it weaves an original storyline that's quite interesting and its central character's arc is just as compelling but the slow pace at which its plot unfurls and the many meanderings in the middle does make it a difficult sit at times.Coming to the acting department, the entire cast delivers sincere performances and play their part responsibly, with Tatsuya Nakadai impressing the most as the elderly warlord in what's a powerfully gripping & highly expressive rendering that nearly overshadows the input of the rest of the actors. Also worthy of mention is its background score that brims with a haunting vibe and aptly captures the film's somber mood.On an overall scale, Ran is a competently directed, deftly written, expertly layered, elegantly shot & brilliantly performed cinema that does many things right over the course of its 162 mins runtime but is still not without its shortcomings. There are moments in it that linger on for too long and the dull pace, even if it is deliberate, doesn't help its cause either. All in all, Akira Kurosawa's last epic is an ambitious showcase of power & madness but it isn't as rewarding as I expected it to be.

Hidetora Ichimonji, a powerful warlord, experiences a dream reminding him that he's showing his age and decides to divide his kingdom among his three sons: Taro, Jiro, and Saburo. Taro, the eldest, will receive the prestigious First Castle and become leader of the Ichimonji clan, while Jiro and Saburo will be given the Second and Third Castles. Hidetora will retain the title of Great Lord and Jiro and Saburo are to support Taro.Hidetora lectures them on the importance of unity by showing them that one arrow is fragile, but three arrows held together are much harder to break. However, Saburo breaks the three arrows across his knee and calls the lecture stupid, pointing out that Hidetora foolishly expects his sons to be loyal to him, while he himself has used the most ruthless methods to attain power. Hidetora mistakes these comments for a threat, and when his servant Tango comes to Saburo's defense, he banishes both men. Fujimaki, a warlord who had witnessed these events, and been impressed by Saburo's frankness, invites him to his dominion and offers him his daughter's hand in marriage.

This is not a film that would ever attract a mainstream Western audience: it is in Japanese with sub-titles, it runs to 2 hours 42 minutes, and it is a variation of the storyline of Shakespeare's "King Lear". Yet, for serious fans of cinema, this is truly a classic. It was directed by the acclaimed Akira Kurosawa who made such outstanding films as "Seven Samurai" and was in his mid 70s when he shot this work. The title "Ran" is Japanese for "chaos", but can also be translated as "confused" or "disturbed". and the characters show all these attributes in a multi-layered narrative.The king-like character in 16th century Japan is Lord Hidetora (played by Tatsuya Nakadai) and, instead of Shakespeare's three daughters achieving catharsis, we have three sons seeking power and revenge with - in one case - the support of a daughter- in-law of the Lord who rivals Lady Macbeth for her cruelty (Mikeo Harada is the striking actress). The film begins with some long, brooding sequences but later we have some wonderfully choreographed battle scenes with horses and arrows aplenty. The cinematography is breathtaking but the suffering is acute - as one character puts it: "Man is born crying. When he has cried enough, he dies."