A personal favorite.
Added 3/19/2009
Throne of Blood is a favorite of mine, both for Kurosawa's masterful direction and the piquant, magnum-force performance of his leading man, Toshiro Mifune. It is no doubt one of Kurosawa's outstanding artistic and dramatic achievements, with mood-inducing sets and cinematography. There is a real supernatural eeriness and dark beauty about the early scenes of Lord Washizu and Miki in the Cobweb Forest with the evil spirit. The unearthly play of light, fog and forest shadow informs you that this is a place that reflects the swirling, contrasting and conflicting elements of the human soul. As the two horsemen try to break through the labyrinth of the forest, that wonderful Kurosawa flair for conveying the powerful dynamism of purposeful motion inspires a thrill of admiration and excitement. We have all seen galloping horses in films to the point where it is mundane and hardly remarkable. But Kurosawa makes us marvel at the lethal velocity, emphasized by those thundering hooves, with the camera catching close-up the full profile of man and beast hurtling forward like a missile as the forest whizzes by in a blur. The somber music, in the traditional Japanese style with prominent drums and flutes seems to be searching, probing for a guilty secret. As you can see, there are many elements to this film that affect me profoundly. These are all just incidental things that work together to reinforce and augment the main story, and they reveal that Akira Kurosawa was an artistic master of film-making. The film is , of course, based on Shakespeare's Macbeth for its main premise, and it follows its model pretty faithfully, transferring the action from Scotland to Japan. Since the story of Macbeth is so well known, the only real surprise has to be in the nuances the actors give in this version of the story. The reason for my extreme partiality to this version of Macbeth is the portrayal of the namesake character by Toshiro Mifune. I don't believe I have ever witnessed a more energetic performance on screen. Every muscle in Mifune's face performed a battery of superhuman calisthenics before this film was over. Toshiro Mifune was a one-of-a-kind phenomenon and I think this role epitomized the essence of this archtypal presence he emanated. All the other actors , even the insidiously conniving Lady Macbeth character, pale into conventionality beside his monumental over-the-top rendition of unrestrained and uncontrollable impulsiveness. This impetuous, excitable, impulsiveness he exudes reminds me of a piece I read once on the behavior of baboons. They are exceptionally intelligent primates, but are so impulsive that any attempt to hunt in groups usually ends up in a battle amongst themselves. When a baboon becomes aware of another baboon following him, he forgets the reason for his proximity and mistakes it for aggression, thus attacking his hunting partner while the prey escapes. Mifune's character displays just such a lack of continuity in his thinking and exhibits a dreadful susceptibility to the bad influence of his scheming wife. The scenes in which Macbeth meets his final doom are an unparalleled representation of a grotesque, hyperactive, supremely instinctual creature who nevertheless owned a charisma and defiance that still made you want to root for him in some way. While I recognize and appreciate the artistic merits of Throne Of Blood, it is this extreme rendition of susceptibility to corruption through ambition, that makes it a personal cult classic. For a graphic model of a talented man ruined by inability to control his emotionally driven, impulsive nature, Toshiro Mifune is the Macbeth par excellence.
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Akira Kurosawa's black and white 1957 film Throne of Blood (Kumonosu Jô- literally Spider-Web's Castle) is a very good film, but not quite up there with the best of his films, like Seven Samurai, Ikiru, nor The Bad Sleep Well, despite its vaunted adaptation from Shakespeare's Macbeth. That said, the hour and forty nine minute long film, written by Kurosawa, Shinobu Hashimoto, and Ryuzo Kikushima, features one of the best performances by its star, longtime Kurosawa leading man Toshirô Mifune as Taketori Washizu, the warrior who has the Macbeth role. Yet, in watching this film, I have come to the conclusion that while there is a minor influence from Macbeth, it is in no way merely a Japanized version of the Bard's play. There are just too many significant differences, as well as the clear power and influence of the Noh Theater on this film, which is absent from other historical Kurosawa classics, period films called jidai-geki.
First off is the notion of determinism. In Macbeth, all the main characters have free will- they are just corrupt from the get go, whereas in this film the main actors either are fated, or- more likely, buy into the idea of fate so strongly that they live out self-fulfilling prophecies. This Orientalist determinism is at great odds with Western ideas of individual free will. It manifests itself in the fact that the minor characters in the film- despite whining about their superiors' flaws, are more or less apparatchiks, whereas the lesser characters in Macbeth are all strong willed, for better or worse. Also, the film is not only about the personal doom that we know awaits Washizu, but that which awaits his whole class of samurai warriors just a few centuries after this film is set- likely the 13 or 1400s, due to the absence of guns. Thus there is a sense of cultural apocalypse that looms- note the beginning and ending choral sequences, straight out of Noh- as well as Greek drama, and set on the steaming and otherworldly and post-Apocalyptic slopes of Fujiyama, whereas the play is more focused on individuals with internal rot, not their whole society. After all, the Great Lord Tsuzuki (Takamaru Sasaki). whom Washizu murders, was himself the murderer of the Great Lord before him, unlike King Duncan in Macbeth. The framing device lends the whole film a very Ozymandian feel.
However, anyone who was entranced by the recent meager Lord Of The Rings trilogy should watch this film, for it defeats that whole series as easily as a samurai kills a foe with one stroke of his sword. Whereas it is more primal and simple a tale than Seven Samurai, it is far more interesting than the usual drama that Hollywood spews. Throne Of Blood may not be a masterpiece, but it is a piece by a master, and as such, it deserves an audience- preferably one with the intellect and ability to discern the difference between an adaptation and a derivation. Whether or not you feel it is a treatise on free will's failures vs. determinism's folly, and what side you come down on, will reveal much about yourself, and such disclosures are what all art strives to do, for after communication, revelation is one of art's greatest qualities.
Lo!
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Bloodshed & Treachery - Sengoku Period Aptly Portrayed
Added 9/9/2008
Kurosawa's epic Throne of Blood deftly captures both the spirit of Shakespeare's Macbeth and the Age of the Warring States (Sengoku) of Japan.
For students of Japanese history, Throne of Blood is great film to check out to understand the spirit of the Sengoku Period (Age of Warring States). Though the story and characters are fictional, the motives are real and very similar events depicted in the film occurred often throughout that period.
The Sengoku Period from the late 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century is the perfect setting for a medival Japanese retelling of Macbeth. It was a time of relentless warfare between small provinces that were kingdoms in their own right. It was also a time of treachery and betrayal - the low overthrowing the high. A number of houses were toppled from within by their own deputies.
In fact, Kurosawa's retelling of Macbeth is actually more truthful in both reality and essence in this regard than Shakespeare. The real Macbeth was not the bloodthristy ambitious tyrant portrayed by Shakespeare whereas Kurosawa's characters while fictional themselves aptly represent the bloody and treacherous reality of the times.
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Classic Kurosawa
Added 7/24/2008
Throne of Blood is a study of a warlord (played by Toshiro Mifune) led by fate in form of a prophesy, straight to his doom. Is it the prophesy or the characters lack of trust in each other that leads them to their doom? The film has a supernatural element: a spirit who, early in the movie, utters a prophesy. This is not a realistic movie depicting 16th century Japan, but rather a dark fairy tale. The acting and the stage sets are terrific, and the film can easily be watched again.
This DVD is up to Criterions usual standards. The picture is awesome (I watched it on a projector) with sharp details of armor pieces and foggy landscapes rendered beautiful. Especially for a movie 47 years old. Also there are two different subtitles, the new one is considered more difficult. I watched it with the new one and while some sentences seemed a little strange, there are no difficulties understanding what is going on.
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Heavy is the head that wears the crown
Added 1/15/2008
Shakespeare reimagined with samurai steel. Kurosawa takes a stab at Macbeth, and the translation is bloody brilliant. All the universal themes are still intact--ambition, selfishness, guilt, fear, despair...and of course betrayal.
Here's a brief summary--a ghostly spirit predicts that a couple of brave warriors will rise into power. This prophecy becomes reality, but with this power comes great responsibility. Everything soon goes spiraling out of control.
The acting is tremendous--Toshiro Mifune absolutely shines as the neurotic ruler. Kurosawa once again presents some bleak and striking images that will engulf you in the period.
Really the only weakness of Throne of Blood is its inevitable comparisons to Kurosawa's other masterpieces. It's nearly impossible for any film to match the visual splendour of Ran or Kagemusha. Plus this film seems overshadowed by the gritty realism of Seven Samurai or Yojimbo. Akira set the bar so high, it's difficult to match his other work. 4.5 stars.
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