“Throne of
Blood” was released in 1957 in black and white.
It is the retelling of MacBeth by acclaimed Japanese director Akira
Kurosawa. It was originally entitled
“Spider Web Castle”. (“Oh what a tangled
web we weave…”) The film opens with a foggy
view of the destroyed castle, but when the fog lifts the castle is intact –
what a nifty way to flash back! Two
generals named Washizu (Toshiro Mifune) and Miki have just defeated an
invasion. They get lost in “Spider’s Web
Forest”, naturally. They encounter an
evil spirit which predicts that Washizu will become ruler and pass the throne
on to Miki’s son. After an extended silly period of riding back and forth, they
return to Lord Tzusuki castle and are shocked to be promoted just as the spirit
said.
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| Asaji |
Washizu’s wife Asaji (Isuzu
Yamada) is a creepy schemer. She
encourages Washizu to preemptively kill Tzusuki before he finds out about the
prophecy (from Miki). Guess who’s coming
to dinner? The camera stays on Asaji as
Washizu goes off to do the deed. When he
returns with a bloody spear, she puts it with the guards who she had slipped a
mickey to in order to shift the blame.
Next up her big sleeved kimono is to remove Miki and his son. She lies and tells Washizu that she is
pregnant. This unhinges Washizu who
hosts a banquet for Miki where he proceeds to hallucinate the appearance of
Miki’s ghost and then proceeds to try to kill it. Could he look more guilty?
 |
| Washizu |
The chickens come home to roost
as Washizu’s enemies approach his castle.
Washizu visits the spirit to get a prophecy update and is assured that
he cannot be defeated unless the trees of the forest attack him. Washizu boosts the morale of his men with
this guarantee of victory. He returns
home to find Asaji feverishly trying to wash bloodstains off her hands. Oh. well, at least there is no chance of
trees attacking. Oops! Here comes the forest. (Actually the enemy has cut down trees and is
using them for cover.) This is the last
straw for Washizu’s fed-up garrison.
They pelt him with a barrage of arrows until one goes through his neck
and he dies looking like a pin cushion.
The movie is bizarrely
interesting. It bears the marks of
Kurosawa’s genius and attention to detail.
He filmed much of it on the slopes of Mount Fuji. It is a very foggy movie. There are a lot of shots through the branches
of trees which I am sure has some point to it because the cinematography has
been lauded. Most impressively, the
arrows fired at (but not hitting) Mifune are actual arrows fired by archers
. Mifune’s movements were choreographed and
he waved his arms to show the archers which direction he was heading in
next. This death scene is one of the
most remarkable in movie history.
The acting is top notch,
especially Mifune and Yamada. The plot
is Shakepearean with a Japanese twist. One twist is the spare dialogue. Kurosawa plants the MacBeth plot in Fifteenth
Century Japan during the period called Sengoku Jidai (“The Age of the Country
at War”). This era of political chaos featured
wars between rival clans marked by treachery and assassinations. He also blends in elements of Noh Theater
like the flutish music, bare sets, and the formalized performances. It is a fascinating film, but not really a
war movie. Classic or antique? Definitely a classic.
GRADE = B
RANKING OF KUROSAWA WAR MOVIES:
1. Seven Samurai
2. Yojimbo
3. Ran
4. Throne of Blood
5. Kagemusha
RANKING OF KUROSAWA WAR MOVIES:
1. Seven Samurai
2. Yojimbo
3. Ran
4. Throne of Blood
5. Kagemusha
the trailer
riding in the forest
I think I've seen this a long time ago. In my Kurosawa phase. I think you've watched of a few of his movies by now, didn't you? I still have two to watch, RAN and Kagemusha but I need to b in the mood. It such different filmmaking, you can't compare it with anything else. But interesting and captivating.
ReplyDeleteYour comment inspired me to add my rankings of the Kurosawa war films. See above.
ReplyDeleteThanks, that's good to see.
ReplyDeleteGood review. I wonder if I read up on Noh theater I would better understand what was going on with Washizu's creepy wife.
ReplyDeleteIn both cases the story portrays the main character with sympathy but makes clear that he is making bad life choices. The flow of the film is tight and the imagery is great. I would put it above Yojimbo (though I'm not sure if it beats Ran), but acknowledge that those top four would cluster fairly close to each other in any case.
The movie does have a strange feel to it, but then so does Macbeth. Fortunately, neither the movie no Shakespeare's play are too bizarre to follow.
The movie is like an episode of Columbo without Lt. Columbo in it. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that every episode of Colombo is a reimagining of "Macbeth."
ReplyDelete