The international success of "Kagemusha" allowed Kurosawa to proceed with his next project, "Ran", another epic in a similar vein. The script, partly based on William Shakespeare's "King Lear", depicted a ruthless, bloodthirsty "daimyō" (warlord), played by Tatsuya Nakadai, who, after foolishly banishing his one loyal son, surrenders his kingdom to his other two sons, who then betray him, thus plunging the entire kingdom into war. As Japanese studios still felt wary about producing another film that would rank among the most expensive ever made in the country, international help was again needed. This time it came from French producer Serge Silberman, who had produced Luis Buñuel's final movies. Filming did not begin until December 1983 and lasted more than a year.