Ran - Reaction Paper

Pasion, Editha A.

BSEDEN-2-1D

Afro-Asian Literature

Dr. Cesar Garcia

Ran (Reaction Paper)

        Japan is very famous for their rich culture and literature especially those which belongs to the contemporary era and this richness can be linked to their history. But this does not mean that Japan’s history is all fun and fairytales. Just like all the history of other countries, there are also some parts of their history that we can consider as a bit “miserable” or sad and one of these sad things became the axis of the movie “Ran”.

        “Ran” is about a powerful family whose father named Hidetora Ichimonjo is already at the later years of his life and came up with a decision to divide the kingdom to his three sons. He decided to give the first castle to his son Taro along with the position as the head of the clan, replacing him. Saburo opposed his father’s sudden decision when he heard about it because he thinks that his father is not in a good state that time and he is worried about the result of such decision. He was told his father that his brothers might turn themselves against their father. Because of disrespecting his father’s decision, he was ordered to be banished and his father even decided to cut the strings that linked them as a family. The adviser of the father also tried to convince his master but the father still refused to listen and so banished the adviser too together with his son. As the days passed, Hidetora's decisions started to turn against him. The passing of leadership from Warlord Ichimonji to Taro was seen by Taro's wife called Lady Akaede as an opportunity for revenge to Ichimonji's clan. Lady Akaede's clan was murdered by Ichimonji. She started to urge her husband to take full control of the clan from Hidetora. Inch by inch, Hidetora became a powerless person in the kingdom and eventually banished from his own kingdom by his own son. in short, the Ichimonji clan fell down because of the conflict inside the family, the intervention of Lady Kaede and the other clans who took advantage of the weakness of the kingdom that time.

             Japan's culture and their way of government is somehow the same with China's. Both countries have dynasty as their form of government before. The clans in Japan who wanted to be powerful have to conquer other clans for them to be on top. This is also the way of obtaining power before in China. this conquest was shown in the movie Ran when the story revealed that Warlord Ichimonji massacred Lady Sue's and Lady Akaede's clan for him to acheive more power. The movie also showed that Japanese people during those times choses no competitor when it comes to power aquisition and that they are ready to defy anyone, may it be their father or brother.

             Ran also reflects some situations that are currently happening in our society. Nowadays, the competition of power is very tight. Power becomes a neccessity for some and they are more than wiling to do anything just to acheive what they want. One of the greatest example for this is the government positions. Here in the Philippines, it is very evident that many people wants to take over, not because they wanted to impose positive change in the society but because they are thinking to use their position for their own good. The movie also depicts how powerful the urge of revenge can be and how great the damage it can create. I can also say that Ran has shown how powerful women can also be despite the society's stereotype that women are weak because in the film, one of the characters who made most of the damage is Lady Akaede. She was able to make the odds in favor of her. Fujimaki's character, on the other hand, reflects those people in the society who are "smart" enough to know how to take advantage of other people's misfortunes. But despite the fact that the movie taught us so many things about treachery, still there is a balance of loyalty in it. Saburo, Tango and Kyoami remained loyal to Hidetora. In today's world, treachery is just around but still, there are people who exist that knows the real essence of the word "loyalty".