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Throne of Blood - Criterion Collection Actors: Toshirô Mifune, Minoru Chiaki Director: Akira Kurosawa Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Academy Ratio Format: Black & White Audience Rating: Unrated Running Time: 105 minutes Studio: Criterion Collection Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2003-05-27 Buy from Amazon |
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From Amazon.com essential video A champion of illumination and experimental shading, Kurosawa brings his unerring eye for indelible images to Shakespeare in this 1957 adaptation of Macbeth. By changing the locale from Birnam Wood to 16th-century Japan, Kurosawa makes an oddball argument for the trans-historicity of Shakespeare's narrative; and indeed, stripped to the bare mechanics of the plot, the tale of cutthroat ambition rewarded (and thwarted) feels infinitely adaptable. What's lost in the translation, of course, is the force and beauty of the language--much of the script of Throne of Blood is maddeningly repetitive or superfluous--but striking visual images (including the surreal Cobweb Forest and some extremely artful gore) replace the sublime poetry. Toshiro Mifune is theatrically intense as Washizu, the samurai fated to betray his friend and master in exchange for the prestige of nobility; he portrays the ill-fated warrior with a passion bordering on violence, and a barely concealed conviviality. Somewhat less successful is Isuzu Yamada as Washizu's scheming wife; her poise and creepy impassivity, chilling at first, soon grows tedious. Kurosawa himself is the star of the show, though, and his masterful use of black-and-white contrast-- not to mention his steady, dramatic hand with a battle scene--keeps the proceedings thrilling. A must-see for fans of Japanese cinema, as well as all you devotees of samurai weapons and armor. --Miles Bethany From Description One of the most celebrated screen adaptations of Shakespeare into film, Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood re-imagines Macbeth in feudal Japan. Starring Kurosawa’s longtime collaborator Toshiro Mifune and the legendary Isuzu Yamada as his ruthless wife, the film tells of a valiant warrior’s savage rise to power and his ignominious fall. With Throne of Blood, Kurosawa fuses one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies with the formal elements of Japanese Noh theater to make a Macbeth that is all his own—a classic tale of ambition and duplicity set against a ghostly landscape of fog and inescapable doom. |
 "Be careful talking with Spirits in the the night..."Throne of Blood is Akira Kurosawa's take Shakespeare's MacBeth and putting it into 16th Japan. Typical of Kurosawa's movies of this era, we see the lead role being played by Toshiro Mifune (the Japanese version of MacBeth). The movie has some good solid acting (Mifune does a great job of playing MacBeth. I don't know another Japanese actor that could have pulled that off as well), the photography is excellent, especially given the era the film was made in, and there's some interesting special effects (the oni [a Japanese demon] is interesting, not great compared to modern stuff, but very good compared to contemporary pieces). A piece that was very impressive was when Mifune and one of the other actors (we've seen him before in other Kurosawa pieces. Kurasawa is about like watching a Ford or Eastwood, you see lots of people you've seen before) are riding thru the woods and they're "using" their weapons on horseback to scare oni away. I also loved the ending (I won't tell you, but it's very impressive). The only disadvantages to the movie that I saw was the actress playing Mifune's wife, I didn't like her, and some scenes were a little long. For review purposes, it pushes 4.5 stars, but doesn't quite get there, so for Amazon purposes, I have to rate it 4 stars. Btw, despite the title (Throne of Blood), there's very little bloodshed. The title is due to the oni asking Mifune if he was going to have a Throne of Blood. "Throne of Blood...."I was enormously fascinated by the film "The Throne of Blood" we just watched as part of our pre-AP English course in Nagoya International School, Japan. The film adopts the plot of Shakespeare's Macbeth with a Japanese setting. Macbeth is characterized as a Japanese warrior, the head of the 1st fort. After the victory, he sees a spirit (the witch-equivalent) in the forest on his way to the shogun's castle. As he has predicted, he was awarded the prestigious status of the head of the castle. The king decided to visit his castle one day to organize a plan to kill the Banquo-equivalent character. He is extremely proud of the trust that the king has in order to arrange such an important event, but his wife believes that the king insists on killing him instead. The big gap between his optimism and his wife's pessimism leads him to the road of Tragedy. I believe the director of the film could easily adopt the setting very similar to that of the original Macbeth, thanks to the similarities in the feudal system of Japan and Scotland. Japan also believed in the existence of spirits and how the nobleman was ranked in status was similar to that of Scotland. Kurosawa would've struggled creating The Throne of Blood if he, for example, adopted dynastic China or the Kingdom of Thailand as the scene instead of Japan. All of the characters in "The Throne of Blood" successfully and accurately emulated the characters in the Shakespearean version. Although there were some changes in their persona (such as the Lady Macbeth character was a more modest figure than the original), all characters kept their qualities, tendencies and their role. To people whom read Macbeth in the past, this movie is definitely worth the watch. Viewers can receive the same impression and the excitement of Macbeth with a totally different setting. Koya  ""Ambition makes the man...""In this 1957 film directed by Akira Kurosawa, Lord Washizu (Toshiro Mifune) and Lord Miki (Akira Kubo) encounter a spirit in a maze-like forest that prophesies great things for the two comrades: the former will someday rule the imposing Spider's Web Castle and the latter will take his friend's position as commander of the First Fortress. Even beyond that, the spirit predicts that Miki's son will one day succeed Washizu as the master of Spider's Web Castle. Although the two men are initially reluctant to trust the spirit's words, preliminary parts of the prophecy come to pass, thus setting into motion a bloody chain of events that explores the differences between active and passive destiny. Lady Asaji (Isuzu Yamada), Washizu's scheming wife, prods her husband to seize the reigns of power at any cost. She insists that Washizu's only restraint is his own ambition and that heaven itself had preordained his rise. Here, of course, is where the trouble begins. Asaji is initially convinced of the legitimacy of the spirit's words and points out to her husband that without his doing anything, part of the prophecy had come to pass. She then declares that Washizu must take the next step of killing the Great Lord in order to fulfill his destiny. And yet there is an obvious question that arises at this point...Miki's son, skeptical of the prospect of his succession to the throne of Spider's Web Castle, tells his father that the spirit's prophecy is only coming true because he and Washizu took it upon themselves to make it so; was it fate or was it a series of man-made coincidences? Asaji paradoxically takes both views as she becomes enraged at the thought of Miki's son and his posterity being the ones to benefit most from Washizu's deeds. Now discounting the inevitability of the spirit's words, Asaji demands that Washizu put an end to Miki and his son to clear the way for their own unborn child. Will Washizu trust the spirit and remain passive or will he actively take matters into his own hand? Will he succeed in rebuffing the spirit and shaping his own destiny or will he fail and fulfill the prophecy anyway? The film itself is excellently done (it doesn't get much better than Mifune and Kurosawa working together) and as with most Criterion Collection DVDs, this one is filled with extras. My favorite feature is the two separate English-language subtitlings. The first is a bit more literary and not quite as literal (I'm so clever sometimes). The second is more conservative and stays closer to a truly accurate translation. Compare these sentences: "he has imbibed too freely" as opposed to "he has had too much wine." Because this is a period drama, the first feels more appropriate to me, especially since the status-based honorifics of Japanese culture (-san, -sama, -dono, etc.) generally lend themselves to older modes of the English language when translating them. The more lyrical translation can be a bit much at times, however, so I can certainly understand why someone would be inclined to prefer the more accurate one. Though I was not particularly enthusiastic about the price-tag of this film, I was satisfied with the results. Highly recommended to all those with a penchant for high quality cinema. "Mai Kanamori from NIS, "Macbeth and Washizu""One man's life with full of ups and downs is pictured in the film, "The Throne of Blood", directed by Akira Kurosawa. This film is a Japanese re-make version of the famous Shakespearean play, Macbeth. Because this film is a Japanese film, many details differ from Macbeth, although the basic plot of the story is the same. All the plot changes, character and setting differences are effective choices for this film because it adds a different taste to the original form of the story. Most plot changes in the film due to cultural differences make the plot in this film natural and flowing, with a little twist at the end. Some detailed plot adaptations that the director had to make included Washizu (playing the role of Macbeth) taking over the Cob-web castle, Miki (playing the role of Lady Macbeth) being pregnant and Washizu being killed by his own men towards the end of the story. In medieval Japan, a man taking over a castle did not necessarily mean that he can be the Emperor of Japan, unlike Macbeth aiming to be the King from the start. Therefore, Washizu did not kill the Emperor, but he had to kill the others competing for the castle. However, the conflicts between Washizu and the other competent is similar to Macbeth's because the goal that they both had in mind was to achieve power. In this film, Miki's pregnancy does not seem to have a dramatical change in the plot of the story, but is thought to be necessary for this Japanese film. The reason for this is because the couple wanted their own child to inherit his throne after his death. This inheriting system is similar to the one in Macbeth, but this director decided to add this detail in to reveal the great desires of Washizu. After all of the killing and the struggles to take over the castle, Washizu did not want any other person but his child who shares his blood to inherit the throne. The climax of this film comes when hundreds of soldiers by Washizu's side points their arrows at him and one by one hits him. This is another plot adaptations that has been made for this film because the soldiers wanted to show the sign of surrender. Giving Washizu's head represented surrender. This change made the film more violent thus added a twist with an unexpected ending. In making changes, it is very important that the plot flows and that it is natural. This sort of change is needed because there is no fun in a film or story that is completely same from the original form. The main character, Washizu is very different from the characteristic that Macbeth has. Washizu is brave, confident, demanding and more selfish than the Shakespearean Macbeth. A Shogun (similar position as the Thane when referring to Macbeth) has to be strong, determined and brave to take over a castle. Unlike Macbeth, he was demanding his wife and the tone of his speech was overall strong. The director probably wanted to express the image of a brave man going through one straight road towards his goal, but ending with a tragic death. This is maybe a typical image of a Shogun during the medieval Japan. One thing that is not expressed because of this characterization of Washizu, is the gradual change of Washizu the beginning to the end of the story. This is an important change to express because in Macbeth, he is growing to become more aggressive and greedy as he overcomes the obstacles to become the King. Similarly, Miki's characterization is different form Lady Macbeth too. Lady Macbeth was a pretty strong woman, telling her husband what to do. However, Miki was not like her because she was under a circumstance where she cannot, since Washizu was a demanding person. But overall, the two characters played the Japanese actors were very well suited for this version of Macbeth. "The Throne of Blood" was set in medieval Japan, when Shoguns from each castle fought to prove the strongest castle and warlords. this setting is very suited to fit a story like Macbeth into. Both setting has Lords, Emperor/King, and warriors. This made it possible for details to be expressed in the film. An example of one detail is one of the three apparitions that the old lady, gave to Washizu. When the old lady told him that he will be victorious unless the wood nears the neighbor comes down to Washizu's castle. Since medieval castle in Japan were constructed on the top of the fort and used forests and woods as one of the protection and security methods, this apparition was realistic. The director chose Japan as the setting of this film, probably because many things matched with the original setting. Technically, it is a completely different setting but it is good enough to reproduce a similar story which is very impressive. If people who have never seen or heard about Macbeth happens to see "The Throne of Blood" will not think that this film is a reproductive of a Shakespearean play. This is how almost perfectly Macbeth and The Throne of Blood matches. The changes were made rather to improve the film. Washizu and Macbeth, both who lived a fast and tragic life possess a lifestyle that people today can still learn and achieve from. That is the power of films and stories. "The Throne of Blood" will always be the classical and perfect example of a successful reproductive film.  "Kurosawa takes on Shakespeare and Macbeth"I think the typically Japanese setting helped in creating suspense, it also made the killing of the king have a greater impact because treason was highly unlikely in Japan. The forest also provided a good setting for the meeting of the witch/evil spirit, because the density and humidity in the forest made it earier. The plot changes by Kurosawa made it difficult to follow the connection between Macbeth and the Throne of Blood due to the fact that Kurosawa left out many important scenes, such as the sighting of the dagger in the air by Macbeth, and in place had extended scenes of MIfune and a co-actor riding around pointlessly throught the forest. Kurosawa also changed the plot so that Mifune was killed by his own men instead of by the opposing force. One adaptation that was fitting and had a good effect was the changing of the three witches to one evil spirit, this was a good choice because Japanese culture doesn't speak much of witches but more of evil spirits. I think Toshiro Mifune's portrayal of Macbeth coulld have been better, for the fact that he did not portray the internal struggles that Macbeth had in the early part of the play. He also did not have the air of almost psychotic arrogance that Macbeth had, when his forces start abandoning him Mifune tries to stop them, where as Macbeth said that he did not need his troops. Isuzu Yamada's portrayal of Lady Macbeth was also relatively poor, although she still convinced "Macbeth" to kill the king she was not as forceful and commanding as Lady Macbeth, she was also too timid and did not reprimand Macbeth as Lady MAcbeth did. Kurosawa could have also used slightly more violence to get the full impact of the story across, and to show how truly evil the killing of the king was. With regard to the end of the movie it would have been more effective to have the two armies go into battle and then have Mifune's troops abandon him in the middle of Battle and have the king of the opposing force and Mifune have a duel. |
