 According to Michael Wilmington, Kurosawa told him that much of the film was a metaphor for nuclear warfare and the anxiety of the post-Hiroshima age.He believed that, despite all of the technological progress of the 20th century, all people had learned was how to kill each other more efficiently.In "Ran", the vehicle for apocalyptic destruction is the arquebus, an early firearm that was introduced to Japan in the 16th century.