Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Minoru Chiaki, Akira Kubo, Takashi Shimura, Takamaru Sasaki, Yoichi Tachikawa, Chieko Naniwa
Certificate: PG
Genre: Samurai, Fantasy, Horror
Awards: None
Throne Of Blood is the first of Akira Kurosawa's adaptations of William Shakespeare. This time around he takes on the dark and heavy material of Macbeth. This time, however, it is told as a samurai story about the ruler of Cobweb Castle.A Great Macbeth has to have a great, well... Macbeth and Toshiro Mifune delivers with every ounce of his being, proving he is definitely the Marlon Brando of Japanese cinema. His brooding and powerful performance is miles away from his character in Seven Samurai. Supporting characters are also worthy of note, especially Yamada's Lady Macbeth and the spirit - played by Chieko Naniwa - who replaces the three witches.
The story is dark and thus the visuals are shown to be just as gritty, terrifying and dismal. There is little action until the end so one should not expect the violence of Kurosawa's previous samurai film as this more ponderous on the atrocities committed by the single character of Washizu and the guilt that reaches into him and his wife, leading to a brilliant climax that has become one of the most memorable images of Kurosawa's career.
As a follow up to Seven Samurai (counting only Kurosawa's Jidai-geki films), Throne Of Blood is a very different beast and is perhaps less enjoyable (especially if one is tired of the Macbeth story) yet it is unique take on a famous play with a brilliant collection of performers and stark imagery that still makes this a great piece of cinema in its own right.
****Good
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