Throne of Blood Review- By Michael Carlisle

Title: Throne of Blood
Year: 1957
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Country:  Japan
Language: Japanese

Love him or hate him, every literate person on the planet has heard of William Shakespeare. Raising the bar on artistry in the late 16th Century, he is best known for having made moving tragic dramas like King Lear, Hamlet, Othello and Macbeth. Since the beginning of Motion Picture Cinema famed directors have attempted to adapt his works onto the screen. Some have been successful, many have failed. Akira Kurosawa is a man who undoubtedly succeeded. 

After a great military victory, Lords Washizu (Toshiro Mifune) and Miki (Akira Kubo) are lost in the dense Cobweb Forest, where they meet a mysterious old woman who predicts great things for Washizu and even greater things for Miki's descendants. Once out of the forest, Washizu and Miki are immediately promoted by the Emperor. Washizu, encouraged by his ambitious wife, plots to make even more of the prophecy come true.

Throne of Blood is essentially an adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth, but with a feudal Japanese setting and Noh Stage influences. This is the best onscreen version of the play, even greater than Polanski's Macbeth. Kurosawa creates a haunting atmosphere of violence, death and madness. We get a clear sense that the main character,  the ambitious Washizu, is doomed from the beginning and we have no choice but to look on.

Masaru Sato's chilling score, as well as the seemingly endless fog, seem to say more about the film than words ever could. The film is essentially about power and how the great lust for it will corrupt any man, even if they seem mentally strong. It also reflects Kurosawa's own view of post-war Japan, and the silent majority that allowed, what he saw as, the dehumanizing effect of corporate cultural dominance to take hold. No character is innocent, perhaps if somebody stopped to think about their actions or ponder about the future, then things might have turned out better.

In conclusion, though Kurosawa deviates from Shakespeare's text, the film is improved by it. He injects the picture with more of a nightmare-ish fantasy feel instead of something more realistic, which captures our imagination and creates new possibilities. Throne of Blood may not be Kurosawa's best, but it certainly is sensational. Praise it! 5/5