"Men must endure/Their going hence, even as their coming hither; 
 Ripeness is all." - Act V, Scene 2 
 Well I have finally seen this play and well it lived up to reputation. I had not focused on this play at first but a few years ago I saw Akira Kurosawa's Ran and was stunned by the brutal poetics of its despair. I like all of Kurosawa's adaptions of Shakespeare (his adaption of Macbeth is my personal favorite) and this one didn't disappoint at all. I will refrain from reviewing the movie and give my thoughts on the play. 
 Lear is a pathetic person in a tragic sense. He raised three daughters-two wrong and one right. The two he raised badly reflect his own character more than his youngest, who was the best of his kids and therefore treated the worst. Lear thought he could retire and still be king and do what he wanted, but his ego and addiction to absolute power undid him well. 
 At the same time THE bastard son of the Duke of Gloucester, Edmund was hatching a plan to destroy everything and everyone around him and this being a Shakespearean tragedy means the universe itself aided him at every step. 
 This is definitely one of Shakespeare's most nihilistic plays and could have been easily ghost written by Thomas Hobbes as it confirms everything he wrote concerning the "state of nature" (which ironically does not manifest in this play until the moment Lear relinquishes power). 
 "Kyonami: Are there no gods... no Buddha? 
 If you exist, hear me! 
 You are mischievous and cruel! 
 Are you so bored up there... 
 you must crush us like ants? 
 Is it such fun to see men weep? 
 Tango: Enough! Do not blaspheme! 
 It is the gods who weep. 
 They see us killing 
 each other... 
 over and over since time began. 
 They can't save us 
 from ourselves. 
 Don't cry. 
 It's how the world is made. 
 Men prefer sorrow over joy... 
 suffering over peace." - from Ran by Akira Kurosawa 
 "Edgar: 
 The weight of this sad time we must obey; 
 Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say. 
 The oldest have borne most: we that are young 
 Shall never see so much, nor live so long." - ending of the play.