The 1970s were difficult years for the great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. Following the box-office failure of his 1970 film Dodes'ka-den and an unsuccessful suicide attempt, Kurosawa was unable to find financial backing in Japan, and he made his acclaimed 1975 film Dersu Uzala in Siberia with Russian financing.
Akira Kurosawa's brilliantly conceived retelling of King Lear combines Japanese history and Shakespeare's plot with the director's own feelings about loyalty and betrayal. In 16th century Japan, the aging Lord Hidetora (Tatsuya Nakadai) passes the decree that his land be divided among his three children. Blinded by the false flattery of his two older songs, he banishes his younger son for speaking the truth. The remaining heirs, driven by power and greed, wage war upon each other.
