Essential Art House: Throne Of Blood

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The greatest screen adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is Akira Kurosawa’s visceral THRONE OF BLOOD (Kumonosu jô), starring Toshiro Mifune and Isuzu Yamada as the ambitious warrior and ruthless wife who try to murder their way to power and glory. Featuring some of the Japanese master’s most unforgettable, hallucinatory imagery, inspired by Noh theater as much as the classical source, this is Kurosawa at his atmospheric best.

• THRONE OF BLOOD ESSENTIAL ART HOUSE (DVD MOVIE)

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

Customer Reviews ::

'Til Birnam Wood to Dunsinane Move.... - Ron Braithwaite - El Indio, Texas United States
Kurosawa's colorful, Japanese version of Shakespeare's 'MacBeth'. Washizu [Mifune] is appropriately outraged, terrified, guilt-ridden and evil, as befits a man who has slaughtered his Lord and seized his lands, army and castle. He, and his guilty demons, are the stars of the movie set against the foggy, mystical background of a medieval fortress and surrounding forest.

Washizu should recognize what he's in for but he chooses to believe a mocking ghost who foretells that he cannot be defeated unless the very forest attacks his castle. Well we all know the rest of the story.

The Japanese pageantry with its feudal customs is worth watching all by itself. The climactic scene in which Washizu's warriors turn against him is magnificent action and cinema. I'm wondering how they did it without seriously injuring Mifune? I enjoyed the film but, to be certain, 'MacBeth' is my favorite of all Shakespeare's plays and I think Kurosawa did it justice with a very Japanese flare.