Just
as Kurosawa had adapted Shakespeare's MACBETH for his own samurai epic
THRONE OF BLOOD (1957), this time he uses KING LEAR as the basis for RAN.
An
aging lord (Nakadai) gives the keys of his kingdom to his eldest son but
it causes a major rebellion and bloody conflict within the family. The
younger two sons (not daughters as Shakespeare would have it) turn against
the clan and organize a massive retaliation.
Mieko
Harda won top acting honors at Cannes in 1986 for her evil incarnate role.
HK import
of a Japanese movie; original widescreen ratio (1:85:1); from a new
Hi-Def transfer; uncut (160 min.) version in DVD format, encoded for
ALL REGIONS, playable on any American DVD machine; in Japanese language
with removable English or Chinese subtitles as an option.
Violence/Adult
Material/Gore: Viewer discretion is advised.