THRONE OF BLOOD

This is Kurosawa’s adaptation of ‘the Scottish play’, which I persuaded myself to watch even though I’m not Shakespeare’s biggest fan. 

After all, Kurosawa is one of cinema’s greats and having studied (if that's the right word) the play at ‘O’ level I have a pretty good grasp of the basic plot, although admittedly I can’t be sure exactly what detailed changes Kurosawa made.

I’m pretty sure though that in the play Lady Macbeth doesn’t get pregnant and then give birth to a stillborn child.  In this adaptation she doesn’t go in for any sleepwalking but we do get the very disturbing scene where she is endlessly washing her hands (with or without water) to get rid of non-existent blood.  

Not that she gets any sympathy from me given how sinister she is earlier, filling her husband’s head with paranoia about Banquo’s Miki's intentions as well as encouraging his ambitions which have already been stirred by the prophecies of a spirit creature (which has replaced the three witches).  

Macbeth Washizu himself is convincing as a great warrior for whom political intrigue requires a subtlety of thought that is beyond him, which is why his wife is able to manipulate him so easily. The early scenes between the two of them are very effective in the way they contrast his restlessness with her stillness as she works out how best to get him to do her bidding.

Washizu is in virtually every scene and it’s a tour de force performance by Toshiro Mifune (who was similarly dynamic as the bandit in ‘Rashomon’).  He is especially impressive in the banquet scene when he goes off the deep end when he is confronted by Miki's ghost.

All the exterior scenes look spectacular.  The film was largely shot on Mount Fuji because Kurosawa wanted a stunted landscape, and the fog that apparently you get there.  A standout scene is when Washizu and Miki get lost in the mists in the Spider's Web Forest before coming across the aforementioned spirit creature.  

At the time of its release this film was one of the most expensive made in Japan, and you can certainly see where the money went in the scenes where opposing forces are preparing for battle, and in the castle sets, some of which were built on Mount Fuji.

Some purists argue that it's not really a Shakespeare adaptation because it is necessarily the case that Shakespeare's language can't be used.  For a philistine like me this was a plus which allowed me to relax and enjoy the film.

RATING: ✓✓ Good Times