Review of Ran (1985) by Nick K — 10 May 2014

Ran, one of legendary director Akira Kurosawa's greatest films, re-imagines the story of Shakespeare's King Lear against the backdrop of war-torn Feudal Japan. The result is both a visually stunning period epic and a haunting, emotionally stirring tragedy, that serves as a cautionary tale on the destructive nature of ambition, greed, betrayal and revenge.

Kurosawa successfully conveys human drama amidst the carnage and savagery, crafting a poignant moral parable that's successfully thought-provoking in spite of all the violence and brutality-or, perhaps, because of it.