Circle of life?

Ran (Uprising, Japanese;1985)

Director: Akira Kurosawa

This, Kurosawa's last movie was the most expensive in the Japanese movie industry at that time. During this film, too, his wife of 39 years passed away. He took one day's leave and continued shooting!

After listening to the folklore about unity and strength with easy breakage of a single stick versus three, the idea came to him about making a movie about the three bad sons.

He later realised that his story had an uncanny resemblance to Shakespeare's King Lear. (he apparently never read Shakespeare!)

The story is set in turmoil filled medieval Japan where the sword and blind loyalty was the order of the day. Against this background, the ageing head of the Ichimonji clan, Hidetora, decide to retire. 

He tells his three sons about unity by demonstrating the strength of 3sticks versus a single stick. The third son, Saburo, incited his wrath by using the might of his knees to break the sticks to disprove his father's wisdom. Saburo was banished by his father. Even though not the wisest, the first son, Taro, was given the throne and the second son, Jiro, was requested to show his legion.

After relinquishing his powers, the father realised that the two sons were just treating him as ruthless as how he was treating his enemies back in his days of youthfulness. His daughters-in-law, whose family he had ravaged, were out for revenge through his sons. 

What follows later is pure carnage and bloodshed, leaving the destruction of the whole Ichimonji clan and their properties. Yet, we are left with philosophical thoughts of life and reason for living.

All the technological progress of these last years has only taught human beings how to kill more of each other faster. It's very difficult for me to retain a sanguine outlook on life under such circumstances.
—Akira Kurosawa

What I was trying to get at in Ran, and this was there from the script stage, was that the gods or God or whoever it is observing human events is feeling sadness about how human beings destroy each other, and powerlessness to affect human beings' behavior.
—Akira Kurosawa