In feudal Japan, echoing with the clang of swords in the sixteenth century, an aging lord prepares to abdicate the throne. This epic period drama by Akira Kurosawa lays bare, with cold realism, how the lust for power shatters family bonds. Betrayal, disputes over property, and a sense of helplessness, echoing behind the castle walls, slowly drag the country toward inevitable ruin. The swords drawn by sons poisoned by the lust for power will determine not only the fate of a single dynasty, but that of an entire empire. This tragedy, echoing along dusty roads and amid the ruins of burning castles, leaves the viewer alone in the midst of a dark labyrinth.