Ran

Ran (1985) is Akira Kurosawa's epic historical drama you can watch online on iFILM — a reimagining of King Lear set among the warring clans of sixteenth-century Japan. It was one of the most expensive Japanese productions ever made at the time of its release.

Aging warlord Hidetora Ichimonji divides his domain among three sons, expecting gratitude and peace. The two older ones praise him. The youngest tells him the truth. Banished for honesty, the son is proven right almost immediately: the brothers turn on their father and on each other, and Hidetora is left wandering the battlefield in a ruined armor, stripped of everything. Tatsuya Nakadai carries the role with a ferocity that shifts, scene by scene, into something closer to grief.

Kurosawa developed the concept across roughly fifteen years before filming on the slopes of Mount Fuji in 1984. The siege sequences, color-coded by clan banners and shot by cinematographer Asakazu Nakai, earned the film an Academy Award for costume design. Stream Ran (1985) online on iFILM.