Akira Kurosawa, in spite of his illustrious career as a director, had difficulty getting Ran into production. It took international co-production to finally secure funding for the film, and it was the most expensive Japanese film in history at the time. With his later films, Kurosawa adopted a new temperament and perspective, trading in the kinetic camera movement of his previous films for a camera angle that positioned himself as a voyeur from afar. His use of long takes and long, locked-off shots represents his contemplation of the world from a distance and is on full display in Ran.
Ran is most notably influenced by Shakespeare’s King Lear. Kurosawa had been researching medieval Japanese history and became engrossed by the story of a warlord said to have had three noble sons. He saw parallels between the story of this famous daimyō Mōri Motonari, and Shakespeare's infamous suspicious king. Using these source materials, he created a visually beautiful world for his pessimistic tale of greed and power hunger. He once said that the fallen king Ichimonji was a representation of himself, and indeed, some parallels can be drawn between the disrespected patriarch and Kurosawa, as he struggled to maintain the professional respect that he had garnered over his career.
Kurosawa was said to have based the film on his perception of nuclear warfare and the anxiety that existed in Japan before Hiroshima. He saw technological advancement as simply another means for mankind to find ways to hurt one another, and sought to illuminate the ways that technology can be damaging to human life through his film. The film was met with critical acclaim and is considered by many to be one of the greatest films of all time, noted for Kurosawa's visual striking touch and masterful storytelling.
