446 - Ran, Japan, 1985. Dir. Akira Kurosawa.

Thursday, March 22, 2018

446 - Ran, Japan, 1985.  Dir. Akira Kurosawa.

A single arrow is easily broken.  Not so three together.

Lord Hidetora Ichimonji is giving a demonstration to his three adult sons, servants, and guests on the open slopes.

No, he has not been reading Ecclesiastes.  He is drawing from ancient Japanese instruction.

He gives each son a single arrow.  Each son is able to snap it with his hands.

He gives each son three arrows together.  They cannot break them.

The reason they are on the slopes is that Hidetora has invited two warlords, his rivals of the past fifty years, to come and consider taking his youngest son Sabura as a son-in-law.

Lord Ichimonji has just given the entirety of his kingdom to his sons.  With authority to his eldest son Taro.

He is about to discover that that was a mistake.

Each of the three sons responds to his bestowal.

Taro flatters him, saying he wishes his father would live a thousand years.  That he would rather take years off his own life to extend the life of his father.  He claims he cannot rule the kingdom by himself.

Jiro, the middle son, sides with Taro.

Lord Ichimonji uses the metaphor of the unbroken arrows to promote unity.  Indeed, the symbol on the hung banner behind them means "one."

He states, "Whenever Taro is in trouble if you unite your forces the house of Ichimonji will be safe."

Let us just say that the opposite is about to happen.

Not only will the three brothers not unite, but they will also battle one another.  Not only will the house of Ichimonji not be safe, but it will also be destroyed.

This is, after all, an epic tragedy appropriating certain narrative elements of King Lear.

Therefore, Sabura, as you might imagine, is impertinent.  At least in Hidetora's mind.  Hidetora's loyal servant Tango will appeal to him that Sabura is only speaking sincerely, from the heart.  While his manner may be less than respectful of his father, his intentions are true.

Sabura demonstrates that while he cannot snap the arrows with his hands, he can certainly break them with his knee.

"Three arrows can be broken," he objects.

And they will be.

Lord Ichimonji is taken aback.  He looks at the guests.  He must save face.  He laughs.  He says he is amused by Sabura's pranks.

But Sabura doubles down.  He is not pranking.  He is serious.  He elevates his tone.  Expounds his position.  Dishonors his father.

"You scorn your father's wishes?  Parents and children have no place in this world?  Very well, since you will have it so, I cut the bond between us!  You are a stranger to me."

And Lord Ichimonji's disowning of Sabura, the true but too honest one, is his second mistake.

He will say at the end of the movie, just before they expire together, "My mistake was to love him too well."

The two-hour, forty minute film is divided into five acts and follows the line of intrigue, murder, betrayal, usurpation, revenge, bloodlust, and the declining of a once-great man into madness.

Lord Ichimonji will end up stripped and broken, alone in nature with his loyal servant Tango and his fool Kyoami.

Taro performs the first treachery, taking the power his father has given him, driving him out, and seeking to consolidate all the region under his authority.

"The view is more pleasant now that it is mine."

He decrees that anyone who helps his father will die.

A great battle takes place at the Third Castle, where Lord Ichimonji first goes to hide.  Taro and Jiro conspire to besiege it, but Jiro betrays Taro as his own general Kurogane kills Taro.

Now Jiro controls the land.

But someone remains on whom they have not counted.  Lady Kaede.  She is Taro's wife.  Like Lady Macbeth, she spurs him on to power when he first receives the premature inheritance.  But do not think for one moment she loves her husband and wants to promote him.

Lady Kaede is the remaining booty of a defeated empire.  When the mighty Lord Ichimonji defeated Lady Kaede's father, destroyed his kingdom, killed his people, and took possession of his land, he gave the lord's daughter Kaede to his firstborn son Jaro.

For years she has appeared to be a loyal member of the Ichimonji family, but in her heart she remains her father's daughter.

And now it is time for her revenge.

What she does to Taro, and then to his brother Jiro, and then to Jiro's wife Lady Sue, is so stunning.  Shakespeare himself would have been proud.

The hen pecks the cock.

Another, greater epic battle will ensue as everything rises to the dramatic climax.

The only winner of this war is death.

At least Lord Ichimonji has a moment to reconcile with Saburo before it all ends.

"Forgive me.  I'm a stupid old fool."

At age 75, Akira Kurosawa has made one of the greatest films of his career.  He spent ten years preparing for it, even making the dramatic war film Kagemusha (1980) as a practice film.  He storyboarded each shot, painting them.  He had more than 1,400 costumes hand-made, each one requiring three months to construct.

He filmed the rich colors of the costumes and fabrics against the lush green and earth tones of the land.

And the red.  Of the blood.

Ran--pronounced as "rahn" or "ron" and meaning chaos or revolt--cements Kurosawa's position as one of the greatest masters the cinema world has ever known.