https://shakespeare.edel.univ-poitiers.fr:443/shakespeare/index.php?id=112 Ran belongs to the genre of the Jidai-Geki or historical film. The action is set in XVIth century Japan, during the obscure age of Sendogu Jidai torn by violent wars among bellicose lords. The plot unfolds on the tragic story of Lord Hidetora Ichimonji, who stands here both as Lear and the real historical figure Lord Motonari Mori, and his three sons. The whole film can be seen as an allegory of the hopeless condition of man, and as such it both echoes the dark pessimism of the play and Kurosawa’s own nihilism. This paper aims at analysing some of the most convincing transpositions of the play verbal images into the visual mode to show the specific nature of the filmmaker’s stylised aesthetics and essential symbolism. The simplification of the plot and dialogues, the use of primary colours as a means of creating a metaphorical minimalist system, the alternation of movement and stasis in the battle and indoor sequences mostly resorting to Noh drama conventions are powerful cinematic means of illustrating the violence of Shakespeare’s universe. Shakespeare en devenir N°1 — 2007 III. Adaptations cinématographiques fr jeu., 28 janv. 2010 15:17:00 +0100 ven., 13 déc. 2024 23:29:42 +0100 https://shakespeare.edel.univ-poitiers.fr:443/shakespeare/index.php?id=112 0