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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 |
 "Akira Kurosawa's Japanese version of Macbeth"I'm a student from Nagoya International School and have just seen the movie "Throne of Blood" in our unit in Shakespeare's Macbeth. By watching the movie, I saw how Kurosawa has adapted Shakespeare's Macbeth to a setting in the Japanese feudal time period. As a person who reads and speaks Japanese, I felt the Japanese title "Kumonosu jou", meaning Spider-web castle had a strong impact on the film. One of the most interesting characters in both Throne of Blood and Macbeth was the witch. The witch took a big part in the story where he/she tells Macbeth his destiny. This drives Macbeth to his tragic end. In the original version of Macbeth, there were 3 witches telling Macbeth his future which motivated Macbeth to his murders. But in Kurosawa$B!G(Bs Throne of Blood, when Washizu was lost in the woods, he meets an old man spinning a wheel and making thread. By seeing that, I thought Kurosawa recognized that the witches controlled the story in the original version of Macbeth. So the old man spinning symbolized that the witch had everything in control. I think that is another reason that Kurosawa named his film Spider-web Castle, with the idea of spider-web suggesting the witch was in control of everything. I recommend this film to students who have read Macbeth and studied the play carefully, as they will be are able to compare this film to the original version of the play and enjoy the differences between the two. "Kurosawa contained Bushidou spirit in " Throne of Blood""My name is Tetsuya Iwase and I'm a student in Nagoya International School. I just studied Macbeth and watched Kurosawa's "Throne of blood". The director of the "Throne of Blood" Akira Kurosawa showed similar perspectives that William Shakespeare showed in his play Macbeth. The rich language use of Shakespeare was not lost when the play was translated into Japanese language. Kurosawa created a harmony of rich Shakespearean language and Japanese. Kurosawa successfully expressed the theme and motifs that were originally in the Shakespeare's Macbeth. This was probably because of the Bushidou spirit that every Japanese have. Going back into Japanese history, the politician called Nitobe Inazou wrote a book called Bushidou which has an idea of samurai spirit of Japan which tell the loyalty, faithfulness and strong feeling about justice. This book was written to prove to the west that at that time Japan had similar aspects as western countries toward these attributes. In the film, there was strong feeling of justice by Inui against Washizu after he had murdered Ootono to get the throne. It was the same in Macbeth too with Malcolm and Banquo towards Macbeth after his murder of Duncan in order to take the throne. I would definitely recommend this movie and I would recommend to read Macbeth first and to watch. It will probably be easier to understand the movie after reading the novel rather then before. "Black and White Wins!!!!!!"I am a student in my 14th year at Nagoya International School. To conclude the study of Macbeth, we watched four film versions of the play: Polanski, Royal Shakespeare, English Shakespeare Company, and Kurosawa's Throne of Blood. Of all these Kurosawa's movie, "Throne of Blood" had the most impact. Although the film was in black and white and it didn't send me to sleep but provided me with lots of excitement. This is significant because even in the world filled with color, a boy living in the 21st century still felt excitement while watching a black and white movie. We could feel and see the tragedy that occurred at the castle where Lord Tsuzuki was murdered. Kurosawa used his brilliant camera techniques to show the room smeared with blood. Kurosawa also effectively created an eerie atmosphere as the fog and the mist rolled in and out of the scenes. The story also made a successful transition from Scotland to Feudal Japan and it worked so well that the movie has a place alongside the other version of Macbeth. I fully recommend this movie to anyone who wants to watch Macbeth from another perspective. SUGOI!! "BUY THIS NOW! DON'T ASK ANY QUESTIONS!"THIS JAPANESE VERSION OF MACBETH IS WEIRD AT TIMES, BUT IT IS ONE OF THE GREATEST INTERNATIONAL MOVIES OF ALL TIME. THIS MOVIE TELLS A WARRIOR'S RISE TO POWER AND HOW HE VIOLENTLY LOST IT. ONCE YOU START LOOKING AT THIS MOVIE, IT BECOMES ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO STOP WATCHING. TOSHIRO MIFUNE PUTS ON A CLASSIC PERFORMANCE AS WASHIZU. THE FINALE IS VERY THRILLING. THIS IS ACTUALLY BETTER THAN MUCH OF THE AMERICAN FILM VERSIONS OF ''MACBETH''. AN INTERESTING PLOT AND INTENSELY GOOD PERFORMANCES MAKE THIS A 5 STAR CLASSIC. FIND A COPY OF THIS MOVIE AND BUY IT AS SOON AS YOU CAN! IN JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES. I DO NOT KNOW IF THIS MOVIE HAS AN ENGLISH DUBBED VERSION. "A Kurosawa Classic"A great deal has been made of the fact that THRONE OF BLOOD (also known as SPIDER'S WEB CASTLE) is drawn from one of Shakespeare's most celebrated plays. This is both a blessing and a curse, for while it gives western audiences a point of reference, it also invites all sorts of comparisons that viewers familiar with the Shakespeare play feel honor-bound to make--and that can get in the way of seeing the film as it is rather than what we expect it to be. And that would be a great pity, because what it is in and of itself is quite fine indeed. The cast is a very strong ensemble, with frequent Kurosawa star Torshiro Mifune leading the film with a remarkably fine performance as the ambitious warrior Taketori Washizu. To my mind, however, the most memorable performance is offered by Isuzu Yamada as Lady Washizu--who plays the role with a demonic stillness that cracks into physical action only when she is completely sure of herself or in utter desperation. It is one of the most disturbing characterizations I have ever encountered. As usual in any Kurosawa film, the imagery involved is extremely powerful, and the moody tone of the film quickly draws viewers in--and once ensnared there is no escape; the film holds your attention with considerable ease throughout. Even so, I would not recommend THRONE OF BLOOD to western audiences who have never seen a Kurosawa film, for it is so completely Japanese in aesthetic that some may find it hard to grasp. It is best seen after you are already familiar with both Kurosawa's work and Japanese cinema in general. The Criterion DVD is quite good, with a nicely restored transfer and bonus features that include the original trailer, a choice of subtitle translations (I prefer the Hoagland translation), and a somewhat awkward but ultimately rewarding commentary track by Michael Jeck. If you're a Kurosawa fan and you've never seen THRONE OF BLOOD, this is your opportunity; if you're looking to replace an existing video with a DVD, this one is likely as good as it gets. Strongly recommended. GFT, Amazon Reviewer |
