Akira Kurosawa’s Ran (乱, meaning “chaos” in Japanese), an epic film inspired by Shakespeare’s King Lear, tells the story of an elderly warlord, Lord Hidetora Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai), who decides to retire and give his empire to his three sons: the eldest, Taro (Akira Terao), who is to rule, his second son Jiro (Jinpachi Nezu), and his third Saburo (Daisuke Ryu). Hidetora’s announcement of this takes place in the opening scene on a idyllic day in the mountains with his sons, his men, lords from neighboring lands, and the fool. Hidetora envisions that his sons will rule as a strong unit, giving an example of three arrows and how they…