Movie Review: RAN (1985). Hidetora’s pride started the war; Lady…

HOLAA FELLAS!

I just completed a viewing assignment I owe entirely to my terrible luck the last two days when me and my cruel friends, Nadan, Nakata, & mas Fikri played UNO dare at Mi Kober. I lost the tie-breaker and my lovely (read: chaotic) friends dared me to watch and write a reflective essay on Akira Kurosawa’s Ran (1985). LMAOAOAO it’s peak irony because, ngl, I’m high-key a reader and rarely watch movies unless I’m watching it with my friends or someone. But yeah, a dare is a dare and I’m a woman with my words so here we are, three hours of cinematic epic later, and I have to admit, it was so f intense.

It all starts with old Lord Hidetora Ichimonji, this powerful warlord deciding to retire and split his kingdom among his three sons: Taro, Jiro, and the youngest Saburo. He actually used the three arrows analogy to preach unity! I was laughing when Saburo broke those arrows easily lmao. The irony is painful, given how he built that kingdom through a lifetime of violence, how he ruined the lives of many families just because he want to expand his territory. The descent was immediate and brutal, when Saburo the only honest (his father says he’s durhaka) one, speaks the truth about his father’s folly and gets banished.

That banishment felt like the first cut that started the bleeding. That was big mistake. Huge.

Hidetora didn’t have any idea at all that his older sons, Taro and Jiro, are absolute snakes. Instigated by Taro’s wife, the terrifying Lady Kaede (whose family Hidetora had previously destroyed), they immediately turn on their father. The betrayal hits different because it’s so immediate and total that Hidetora, stripped of his dignity and his men descends into madness. That man going insane.

The scene at the Third Castle where Hidetora’s retainers are massacred… I have to write that down. Kurosawa (sutradara) cuts out the sound of the battle, leaving only that haunting, mournful orchestral music. It transformed the violence from a gritty fight into a horrifying, beautiful ballet of death.

When Hidetora walks out broken and utterly staring blankly at the carnage he created,

it’s clear that this is the punishment for his past life. He’s literally surrounded by the ghosts of his own making.

And then there’s Lady Kaede. She is the true villain, not out of ambition for the crown, but for pure terrifying revenge by the murder of her family. She’s the consequence Hidetora never anticipated, she seduces Jiro and demands the death of the gentle Lady Sue, her goal is only to see the entire Ichimonji bloodline annihilated. For me, her calm focused evil is more chilling than any battlefield rage.

Last but not least, the ending’s got me speechless when the loyal son (Saburo) who returned to save his father, is immediately sniped down. In this scene there is no great duel, no heroic sacrifice just a quick meaningless death, moments after Hidetora finally finds peace and sanity in his arms.

That single event crushed any hope of redemption. Hidetora dies of a broken heart right there.

The final shot of Tsurumaru (the blind brother) standing on the cliff edge with the Buddha amulet slipping from his grasp, for me it felt like final statement that said:

There are no gods. There is no heaven or hell, only this indifferent chaos. Human beings are left entirely alone to suffer the consequences of their own pride and violence.

So, while I generally prefer a good book this “productive” uno dare forced me to engage with a true cinematic masterpiece. It’s a powerful and utterly depressing, look at the human condition lol. I guess my Uno loss yielded some heavy, but worthwhile reflection. Dare is a dare, and i finished this one, thank you Nadan, Nakata and Mas Fik. Well played, I’ll make sure I never lost this UNO DARE next time.

Question for myself and beloved readers:

If, just if, Saburo had just pretended to agree with his father, would any of this carnage have been avoided? Or was the destruction of the Ichimonji clan inevitable because of Hidetora’s past sins? Call it fate call it karma.