← Back to Reviews
in
#333 - Throne of Blood
Akira Kurosawa, 1957
After a pair of high-ranking military commanders encounter a forest spirit who tells them their futures, one of them starts taking extreme measures to guarantee the safety of his future.
At its base, Throne of Blood is fundamentally a retelling of Macbeth set in feudal Japan, but Kurosawa and his collaborators adapt it to the setting reasonably well and make for a film that I think might just top The Tragedy of Macbeth as my favourite adaptation of the Scottish play. Seeing as Macbeth was one of the plays I studied in high school, I'm exceptionally familiar with it and was able to pick how this film streamlines the plot and keeps it nice and relatively short. Some of the changes are rooted in cultural and historical differences, with the dialogue (or at least the English subtitles) becoming much more prosaic by swapping out the various Scottish place names for numbered castles and a simplified ranking system involving lords and commanders. It still manages to invoke some flowery turns of phrase when the forest spirit (here standing in for the trio of witches) is involved. There are also some changes that influence the endgame considerably (putting them under spoilers because I figure they are worth mentioning):
Otherwise, Throne of Blood is a solid adaptation where the makers make enough of their own mark on the material to keep it interesting without doing any injustice to it in the process. A variety of performers, several of whom are dependable Kurosawa regulars like Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura, deliver good performances that are appropriately theatrical without being overdone. The monochromatic look of the film is decent enough and, while there are few action scenes, many of the sequences are shot through with clarity and professionalism. It's not about to become my favourite Kurosawa in a hurry, but it might just push me to watch more of his work before too long.
Akira Kurosawa, 1957
After a pair of high-ranking military commanders encounter a forest spirit who tells them their futures, one of them starts taking extreme measures to guarantee the safety of his future.
At its base, Throne of Blood is fundamentally a retelling of Macbeth set in feudal Japan, but Kurosawa and his collaborators adapt it to the setting reasonably well and make for a film that I think might just top The Tragedy of Macbeth as my favourite adaptation of the Scottish play. Seeing as Macbeth was one of the plays I studied in high school, I'm exceptionally familiar with it and was able to pick how this film streamlines the plot and keeps it nice and relatively short. Some of the changes are rooted in cultural and historical differences, with the dialogue (or at least the English subtitles) becoming much more prosaic by swapping out the various Scottish place names for numbered castles and a simplified ranking system involving lords and commanders. It still manages to invoke some flowery turns of phrase when the forest spirit (here standing in for the trio of witches) is involved. There are also some changes that influence the endgame considerably (putting them under spoilers because I figure they are worth mentioning):
WARNING: "Macbeth/Throne of Blood" spoilers below
The most significant change that Throne of Blood makes to its source is what appears to be the complete removal of Macduff's subplot. Though Wikipedia indicates that there is a Macduff equivalent, I missed the connection since he does not get the whole "no man of woman born" prophecy that defines Macduff's character arc. Instead, the film's Macbeth equivalent is shot full of arrows by his own men before his enemies can even breach his defences. An interesting variation and not in a bad way, especially since it makes for the film's most undeniably iconic moment.
Otherwise, Throne of Blood is a solid adaptation where the makers make enough of their own mark on the material to keep it interesting without doing any injustice to it in the process. A variety of performers, several of whom are dependable Kurosawa regulars like Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura, deliver good performances that are appropriately theatrical without being overdone. The monochromatic look of the film is decent enough and, while there are few action scenes, many of the sequences are shot through with clarity and professionalism. It's not about to become my favourite Kurosawa in a hurry, but it might just push me to watch more of his work before too long.