RAN (1985)

Directed by Akira Kurosawa

Starring Tatsuya Nakadai

Running Time: 162 mins

Language: Japanese (with Korean subtitles)

Age Restriction: Suitable for ages 15 and over

Date and Time: 5 May (Tue) at 2PM

Tickets: Free Admission (up to two tickets per person/ reservation necessary, first comes first served)

How to Book: Book online (www.mdtheater.or.kr) or by phone (02-727-0951)

※A 30 min-long lecture (in Korean) on the film is provided before the event

Guest Speaker: LEE Junggook (Film Director, Professor of film art at Sejong University)

A legendary Japanese film director's masterpiece based on William Shakespeare's great tragedy King Lear

National Theater Company of Korea provides free film screening service to help our audience members to have a better understanding of our stage works.

RAN is a film adaptation of King Lear, directed by a legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, the first Asian film director who received the honorary Academy Award (1990). In his seventies, the great director gathered his energies on this story and produced a masterpiece. Unlike the original play, the story is set in the 16th century in Japan. Also, Taro's wife Kaega who tries to destroy the Ichimonji family appears as an important figure. The film was hailed for its beautiful images and the colorful mise en scène. It won the Academy Award for Costume Design (1985).

Synopsis

Hidetora Ichimonji, an old lord, decides to divide his kingdom among his three sons: Taro, Jiro and Saburo. The oldest and the second sons are delighted to accept the father's offer but the youngest Saburo advises that the sons will be disloyal to the lord once they are fully succeeded by the father. Hidetora is outraged by the unpleasant advice and expels the youngest outside the kingdom. Unfortunately, Saburo's concern becomes a reality: Taro and Jiro treat the great lord badly and Hidetora becomes a crazy vagabond to his bleak despair.