Ran

『乱』
Ran

40th Anniversary—35mm Presentation. With its title signifying chaos, revolt and turmoil, Kurosawa’s long-gestating jidaigeki is a culmination of the director’s audacious filmmaking and theatricality, a magisterial tragedy adapting Shakespeare’s Lear for the Sengoku period. Elder warlord Hidetora Ichimonji (a transformed Tatsuya Nakadai), once cruel and unsparing in his youth, divides the expanse of his conquests among his three sons, sharing hopes of unity, only to be spurned once he abdicates. The perils of viperous offspring, assuaged only by their ambitions for power and control, foment an orchestrated downfall brought on by Ichimonji’s own folly as two of his sons and cunning daughter-in-law (Mieko Harada) conspire against him. A grand spectacle unparalleled in scale, Akira Kurosawa’s final epic finds beauty in chaos. The wandering lord, accompanied by his court jester (androgynous queer icon Peter, Funeral Parade of Roses), witnesses his kingdom laid to waste at the hands of his kin; the wanton destruction of his dominion heralds a new age as he passes into madness.

Dir. Akira Kurosawa, 1985, 162 min., 35mm, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Mieko Harada, Peter. Score by Toru Takemitsu.

Part of John and Miyoko Davey Classics
Year-round screenings of beloved classics, restorations, and rediscoveries of classic Japanese cinema, offering a new cinematic canon from across the scope of Japanese cinema. Presented with the John and Miyoko Davey Endowment Fund for Classic Japanese Film.

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© 1985 KADOKAWA / StudioCanal

Ran is generously supported by The John and Miyoko Davey Endowment Fund for Classic Japanese Film.

Japan Society’s 120th anniversary initiatives and related programs are generously supported by Champion Sponsor, MUFG Bank, Ltd.; Advocate Sponsor, Mizuho Americas; and Friend Sponsor, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas).

Japan Society programs are supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Film programs are generously supported by ORIX Corporation USA, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Anime NYC and Yen Press. Endowment support is provided by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund and The John and Miyoko Davey Endowment Fund. Additional season support is provided by The Globus Family, George P. Hirose, David Toberisky, Joseph Rajaratnam and Dharshini Iolanthe Sivakumaran, and other Film supporters.

Transportation assistance is provided by Japan Airlines, the official Japanese airline sponsor of Japan Society Film Program. Housing assistance is provided by the Prince Kitano New York, the official hotel sponsor of Japan Society Film Program.

Additional support for Film programs is provided by Sendon and BuyJapon.