Ran 乱

This is the famous Japanese director Kurosawa Akira's last great epic. It is set in medieval Japan, in the Warring States Period of Japan (Sengoku Jidai 戦国時代). The story is about an aging warlord who passes on his authority to his eldest son, thinking that his three sons will stay together and aid each other. Instead his youngest son, who knows the ambitions of his brothers, speaks out against his father's decision and was banished.

In the end, the eldest son drove his father out of his own castle, and the second son took the opportunity to kill the eldest and gain control of the clan. This drove his father mad, wandering lost in his own land. When the youngest son came to look for his father, brother ended up fighting against brother, and in the end, all three sons died, and the land was lost to neighbouring warlords who took the chance to invade their lands.

This is a great movie made in the 80s, with many samurai war scenes showing how battles were fought during that era. I especially like the cavalry charges, and how musketeers and archers hidden in the woods can be an effective tactic against a superior mounted force.

Ran in Wikipedia