Ran (film)

Ran is a 1985 Jidaigeki film about an aging Sengoku-era warlord who decides to abdicate as ruler in favor of his three sons. The story is based on legends of the daimyo Mōri Motonari, as well as on the Shakespearean tragedy King Lear.
 * Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Written by Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, and Masato Ide.

Kyoami

 * Man is born crying. When he has cried enough, he dies.


 * Why stay with this mad old man? If the rock you stay on starts to roll, jump clean. Or you'll go with it and be squashed. Only a fool stays aboard.


 * The failed mind sees the heart's failings.


 * In a mad world, only the mad are sane!


 * He gives away his house, He gives away his lands, He now holds a new title: 'Lord of the rice fields' a scarecrow!

Saburo

 * Does a traitor betray himself?

Tango

 * Men prefer sorrow over joy... suffering over peace!

Dialogue

 * Hidetora: The Great Lord goes nowhere alone.
 * Jiro: You renounced your power. You have no need of an escort.
 * Hidetora: Only the birds and the beasts live in solitude.


 * Kurogane: Saburo is not our only enemy.
 * Jiro: So what? If they attack, we retaliate. We grab their land and enlarge our own.
 * Kurogane: Fine words, but words don't win wars.


 * Hidetora: I am lost...
 * Kyoami: Such is the human condition.


 * Kyoami: A serpent's egg is white and pure. A bird's is speckled and soiled.
 * Hidetora: This is a castle... Here's a wall.
 * Kyoami: The bird left the speckled egg for the white.
 * Hidetora: Strange...
 * Kyoami: The egg cracks; out comes a snake.
 * Hidetora: Empty space above the wall. Why?
 * Kyoami: The bird is gobbled by the snake.
 * Hidetora: Where am I? Who am I?
 * Kyoami: Stupid bird!


 * Kyoami: 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?
 * Tango: 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.


 * Hidetora: What madness have I spoken? Wherein lies my senility?
 * Saburo: I'll tell you. What kind of world do we live in? One barren of loyalty and feeling.
 * Hidetora: I'm aware of that.
 * Saburo: So you should be! You spilled an ocean of blood. You showed no mercy, no pity. We too are children of this age... 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!


 * Hidetora: [Hidetora has just signed a pledge abdicating his authority to Taro] Are you a son?
 * Taro: What do you mean?
 * Hidetora: Is this a son's attitude? The hen pecks the cock and makes him a crow.

Quotes about Ran

 * 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.
 * Akira Kurosawa,

Cast

 * Tatsuya Nakadai - Lord Hidetora Ichimonji
 * Akira Terao - Taro Takatora Ichimonji
 * Jinpachi Nezu - Jiro Masatora Ichimonji
 * Daisuke Ryu - Saburo Naotora Ichimonji
 * Mieko Harada - Lady Kaede
 * Yoshiko Miyazaki - Lady Sue
 * Hisashi Igawa - Shuri Kurogane
 * Pîtâ - Kyoami
 * Masayuki Yui - Tango Hirayama
 * Kazuo Katô - Kageyu Ikoma
 * Norio Matsui - Shumenosuke Ogura
 * Toshiya Ito - Mondo Naganuma
 * Kenji Kodama - Samon Shirane