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DVD Throne of Blood - Criterion Collection
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
Review(s): DVD Throne of Blood - Criterion Collection
Throne of Blood
Kurosawa and Noh do Macbeth with so much less language (not that I do not like Shakespeare's poetry) and so much more physical expression, that I doubt that I will not be able to read the play again without imagining Mifune as I read Will.
"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.
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
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It's a good film and everything, but would i ever watch this again? After many positive reviews, i decided to buy this and add it to my samurai film collection(which includes Seven Samurai, Sanjuro, Yojimbo, Ran, Kagemusha, Shogun's Samurai, Shogun Assassin, Sword of Doom, Shogun's Ninja, a Sword of Vengeance and Zatoichi film or two, etc). I liked the movie, was caught up in the story and characters enough, and the ending had a good pay-off with an extended fight that was well done(great to see so many characters involved in such a desperate battle to accomplish their mission).
But here's the problem, that was the ONLY major fight/action sequence in the entire (lengthy)film. Plus, once you get the 'twist' in the story line(which is pretty easy to figure out), and you... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Kihachi Okamoto DVD Release Date: Released the 08 February 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Chushingura means "loyalty," and that potent Japanese theme runs like hot blood throughout this stately samurai epic. It's often called the Gone with the Wind of Japanese cinema, and while that may be a fitting cultural parallel, it gives an inaccurate impression of the film, based on one of Japan's most enduring and oft-interpreted historical events. A simmering, deliberately paced drama set during the Tokugawa shogunate in 1701, it centers on 47 loyal samurai who seek vengeance against the arrogant elder statesman who caused their master's ritual suicide. The now masterless ronin let seasons pass (and the movie occasionally seems just as long) before executing a climactic raid that is both expertly fierce and lethally efficient. Featuring a who's-who of fine... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Koshiro Matsumoto - Yuzo Kayama Director(s): Hiroshi Inagaki DVD Release Date: Released the 27 February 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Two of England's greatest actors, Sir Ian McKellen and Dame Judi Dench, electrify in this lean, stripped-down production of Shakespeare's darkest tragedy. In the wake of a battle, the Scottish warrior Macbeth (McKellen, Gods and Monsters, Lord of the Rings) receives a prophecy from a trio of witches: He shall be king. When fate doesn't unfold quickly enough, Macbeth and his even more ambitious wife (Dench, Shakespeare in Love, Iris) decide to give it a push. McKellen sweats anxiously and oozes a creeping lust for power, while Dench is hypnotically vicious from her first moment. For audiences used to their film careers, this grand pair will seem young as pups (this TV movie is from 1979, adapted from an acclaimed Royal Shakespeare Company... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Philip Casson DVD Release Date: Released the 16 November 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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