Japanese Macbeth

[Universe Prince]

Some of you may already know what I'm talking about. For those that don't, I'm talking about Throne of Blood, an Akira Kurosawa film. If you have not seen this film, you might wondering how Macbeth plays in Japanese. Pretty damn good as it turns out. Throne of Blood is not literally Macbeth of course. It's basically an intersection of Shakespeare's play and an an old style of Japanese drama called Noh. There are a lot of Noh conventions in the film, including the background images and the style of the acting, but you don't need to know about all that the enjoy the film.

The film follows the plot of the play closely for the most part. Oddly enough, there is no equivalent of the Macduff character, but the end of the film is quite memorable nonetheless. Anyway, Toshiro Mifune plays Taketori Washizu, the Macbeth character, who, along with a pal, has returned from fighting off an invasion. Along the way, they meet a strange woman who fortells a future of Washizu find himself all to eager to achieve. Though, like Macbeth, he seems to lack the confidence to act on this desire. And as with Macbeth, Washizu has a wife more than willing to do whatever it takes to push her husband to power.

Isuzu Yamada plays Lady Washizu, and many people think she steals the movie as one of the most frightening versions of Lady Macbeth ever seen on film.

To be sure, this is a rather slow-paced film, and that comes from the influence of Noh. But it is also a beautiful film, full of poetic and stylized images. It is considered by many to be the best of any of the Shakespeare plays on film.

If you're interested in seeing the movie, IFC will be showing Throne of Blood on Saturday, March 1, at 8:00 (EST).

[kimba1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ran_%28film%29


have you seen ran?

your post made me think of it

[Universe Prince]

have you seen ran?

Years and years ago, yes, I saw Ran. It is an absolutely beautiful film. And based in part on King Lear. But I think it's almost unfair to mention that because Kurosawa really made the story his own.

[kimba1]

mean no slight
just the name poped in my head

[Universe Prince]

mean no slight

Never occurred to me that you did.