Read

Although only one word, the bleak title Ran (1985) has multiple meanings, mainly due to its rough English translation. Ran, which is Japanese for “chaos,” perfectly embodies the political and social atmosphere of the film’s particular region of pre-modern Japan that is abruptly plagued by instability and all-out military conflict.

Much of Ran’s aesthetic emphasis is placed on the battle sequences, particularly on a new piece of weaponry known as the firearm. Far superior to the dated swords, bows and arrows, the “hook gun” lays waste to anyone and anything that stands before it. “All the technological progress of these last years has only taught human beings how to kill more of each other faster. It’s very difficult for me to retain a sanguine outlook on life under such circumstances,” director Akira Kurosawa stated.

Released in the final years of the Cold War, Ran can also be read as a metaphor for escalation and nuclear warfare, as the filmmaker saw the devastating effects of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings in his home country.

Other meanings of the film’s title include “confused” or “disturbed,” which are clear characteristics of the aging and disillusioned Hidetora (Tatsuya Nakadai), who is based on Shakespeare’s King Lear. While many other characters also appear confused or disturbed, the warlord’s servant Tango (Masayuki Yui) acts as the pessimistic voice of reason. “Men prefer sorrow over joy… suffering over peace,” he states. In such a world, confusion is a natural state.

After the violent events of Ran are in full swing, another servant named Kyoami (Pîtâ) asks, “Are there no gods… no Buddha? If you exist, hear me. You are mischievous and cruel! Are you so bored up there you must crush us like ants? Is it such fun to see men weep?” To this, Tango responds, “Enough! Do not blaspheme! It is the gods who weep. They see us killing each other over and over since time began. They can’t save us from ourselves.”

In regards to his late masterpiece, firector Akira Kurosawa stated, “What I was trying to get at in Ran, and this was there from the script stage, was that the gods or God or whoever it is observing human events is feeling sadness about how human beings destroy each other, and powerlessness to affect human beings’ behavior.” Perhaps the filmmaker’s personal feelings are best expressed when Kyoami laments that, “In a mad world, only the mad are sane.”

A strong sense of nihilism runs throughout Ran. Derived from the Latin word nihil, meaning “nothing,” nihilism is the rejection of all religious and moral principles, often in the belief that life is meaningless. This philosophical doctrine, which originated in the early 19th century, is exemplified in the opening scene wherein the warlord Hidetora ruthlessly hunts down a wild boar for sport. Friedrich Nietzsche’s infamous statement that “God is Dead” is also referenced in the final scene, when the blind Tsurumaru accidentally drops and loses a picture of Buddha as he stands alone and silhouetted atop the castle ruins. Ultimately, the Ran title, whatever its translation, refers to this nihilism and the painful, violence-ridden world that results when we have lose track of our fundamental beliefs, reason and humanity.