Kumonosu Jô (Throne of Blood) (Macbeth)

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Kumonosu Jô (Throne of Blood) (Macbeth)

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Kumonosu Jô (Throne of Blood) (Macbeth) Recent Reviews
  • SirPant
    November 25, 2009
    SirPant
    This is nothing short of genius. Kurosawa does Shakespeare better than anyone else ever has. The last scene is just awesome cinema!
  • FangsFirst
    October 12, 2009
    FangsFirst
    As always, the title was changed in translation: "Kumonosu-j?" actually translates to "Spider's Web Castle," the given name of the castle in the film. It's probably criminal to some, but at this point I'm more familiar--in terms of what I have experienced--with the work of Akira ...( read more)Kurosawa than I am with the work of William Shakespeare. In my youth, I picked up a set of his three major tragedies (debateably, of course--but I mean King Lear, Hamlet and Macbeth) but discovered I have no taste for reading plays. I've not seen (nor participated in, with my brief stage "career" in high school) many performances of the Bard, either. As such, there are only the forced readings from school that inhabit my conscious, as well as the film adaptations I've seen (and other alternate-medium adaptations and discussions) that inform my knowledge of Shakespeare. It's limiting to have difficulty reading poetry and plays (yeah, neither!) so I haven't gained much ground on this, either. Still, that list does include Macbeth, actually, which I was fascinated by, and so for once I could watch one of Kurosawa's "adaptations" and think, "Hey! I know this plot!" (which I could not do with Ran and its King Lear-inspired plot, as I've never read, seen, heard or otherwise experienced that play).

    Taketoki Washizu (Toshir? Mifune) returns to Lord Kuniharu Tsuzuki (Hiroshi Tachikawa) after defeating the forces of competing Lord Inui, but he and Yoshiaki Miki (Minoru Chiaki), his fellow warrior, are stopped in the forest by the sight of a mysterious and ghostly stranger (Chieko Naniwa). She tells them of their coming glories, that Washizu will become lord of a new territory, and eventually replace lord Tsuzuki, while Miki's son will also eventually take Tsuzuki's place. They are confused and surprised by this, and relatively disbelieving, until their return to Tsuzuki leaves Washizu with the exact titled prophesied. Washizu's wife, Asaji (Isuzu Yamada), begins to play on Washizu's paranoias and ambition, suggesting that he should take an active role in the next part of the prophecy. The visit of Lord Tsuzuki to Washizu's guard brings him into reluctant agreement with Asaji, and so he assassinates the powerful lord and sets into motion a far more obviously unavoidable set of events to fulfill prophecy, as suspicion and conflict return to the kingdom.

    Deviations from Shakespeare mostly relate to the setting, in obvious terms at least. However, there is more to it. There's more reluctance on the part of Washizu, there's a different denouement, it's all tweaked and nudged in various directions to suit Kurosawa's own plans. This, of course, is probably its saving grace as a film. Many consider it one of the (if not THE) best Shakespeare film adaptations around. Nothing is sacrificed for 'accuracy,' and nothing is shoved into place despite the film so that it suits the original play. The tone, the meaning, the concept, the idea--this is what is transferred over. A bare skeleton, a basework, from which a new piece of art is created. This is not a surprising approach for Kurosawa, who was notorious for his stubborn vision and tendency toward lack of restraint. What he builds, though, is something that, in losing the language and exact construction of the play, is something that more viscerally pushes the feeling of the play. He imbues it, interestingly, with a native (to him) form of theatre despite the conversion to film, though: Noh. Masaru Sato (who composed for a number of Kurosawa's films) puts forth a Noh-styled minimalist score, very traditional and very sparse. Asakazu Nakai's cinematography is often stark in its contrast, creating deep and clear pools of white for Naniwa's ghostly demon and dark, dense and intricate pools of darkness for the men facing her. Interiors, even more so, bring in this approach. Makeup and lighting gives many of the actors the appearance of Noh masks.

    Interestingly, Kurosawa's lack of restraint and sense of majesty and spectacle serves him far better than modern approaches to the same: scenes like the final ones, especially, are impressive even now, as those loyal to Tsuzuki attempt to retake Spider's Web Castle from Washizu and use the very forest to do so, and then as Washizu meets his fate in fearful madness and a slew of arrows. An interest in fog and its usage also serves Kurosawa, when anyone is lost in the protective fog surrounding Spider's Web Castle and finds themselves lost and turned around over and over, galloping in and out of the fog. Any of these things could easily turn out poorly, and the fog scenes certainly walk a tightrope and nearly fall into a place of wondering--wondering, that is, what on earth we're watching them gallop in and out of the fog for. But it never quite falls off into that particular confusion, consistently it's clear that the two men galloping astride horses onscreen are getting lost repeatedly, however theatrically--as if they are trapped in the space of a stage to convey this, despite having an entire real field of fog and the possibility of multiple cameras--and show this perfectly.

    This is not my favourite Kurosawa, but that's nearly meaningless. It's still Kurosawa and absolutely brilliant film-making, and certainly an easy place for Westerners to start if they wish for some semblance of familiarity in their first foray into Kurosawa's filmography.
  • webalina
    October 4, 2009
    webalina
    Akira Kurosawa's version of Shakespeare's MacBeth is stunning in my opinion. The decision to move the story from Elizabethan England to the samurai culture of feudal Japan was a stroke of genius.The story -- for those of you living under a rock for the last 400 years, of a man's ...( read more)craving for power and position (gently shoved along by his wife) and the paranoia that develops when that power is obtained -- translated perfectly. Toshiro Mifune as Washizu is always great to watch, but my vote for best performance here goes to Isuzu Yamada in the Lady MabBeth role, known here as Lady Washizu. She's calculating and evil when she is pushing her husband to greater political heights, and both scary and sympathetic after she has mentally gone off the deep end. Like Kurosawa's film Ran, this is done in a theatrical Noh style, which gives it fairy-tale/nightmare quality. I've always loved what Kurosawa does with rainstorms, and the storm in the woods is powerful and spooky and wonderful. The film is slow-moving at times, but I feel that adds to the film rather than takes away from it. The first 15 minutes and the last 15 minutes alone are worth the price of admission. An amazing achievement for all involved.
  • DrBenway
    June 29, 2009
    DrBenway
    It's funny how the most satisfying movie adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays are not necessarily the most faithful. While Laurence Olivier made high quality versions of Henry V and Richard III, there can be more fun to be had watching the Ian McKellen Richard III. Throne ...( read more)of Blood is a must see for people who wanted to see Shakespeare plays from a different perspective with its' burly battles, cast of hundreds, and larger-than-life performances in the samurai genre.

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  • flixsterman
    January 27, 2009
    flixsterman
    Kurosawa's compelling "samurai" adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth. This isn't just a typical retelling of the story or a film version of the stage play, this is much more of a character study with surprising depth and motivation. An epic film, in every sense of the word.
  • donnarenee2006
    November 28, 2009
    donnarenee2006
    Would like to see this one!
  • ElCochran90
    November 27, 2009
    ElCochran90
    "Admirable, my Lord. You, who would soon rule the world, allow a ghost to frighten you."

    KUMONOSU-JOU (1957)


    Director: Akira Kurosawa
    Country: Japan
    Genre: Action / Drama / Fantasy / Thriller / War
    Length: 110 mi...( read more)nutes

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    Following the extensive literary work of one of the most famous and renowned theater dramatists, William Shakespeare, the Japanese master of tragic cinema Akira Kurosawa bases his talent and vision on the huge worldwide, financial success that he obtained through his best and definitive masterpiece Shichinin no Samurai (1954). Cinema has made several influential and significant Shakespeare adaptations, from the macabre inventiveness of Laurence Olivier (The Chronicle History of King Henry the Fift with His Battell Fought at Agincourt in France [1944], Hamlet [1948]) to the predominant sentimentality of Kenneth Branagh (Henry V [1989], Hamlet [1996]). In this case, Shakespeare and Kurosawa team up for the first time, even surpassing the success and huge popularity of his last magnum opus titled Ran (1985). Never had cinema been subject to such a great and spellbinding honor, not only resulting in one of the most inventive and original adaptations ever committed to celluloid, but also becoming one of the most ambitious feature films of all times, all of this just to be enhanced and glorified by a breathtaking Toshirô Mifune signing up for the leading role.

    Kurosawa's unparalleled take on Macbeth is set in the 16th Century Japan, and opens with the Lords Taketori Washizu and Yoshiteru Miki being lost in the Cobweb Forest after a great military victory. There, they meet a spirit in the form of a mysterious old woman who prophesies the future greatness of the fate of Washizu and the upcoming prosperity for Miki's descendants. When they leave the forest and arrive to the Spiders' Web Castle, they are immediately promoted by the Emperor. After Washizu narrates his supernatural experience at the forest, his ambitious wife forcedly convinces him to work harder on the fulfillment of the prophecy and even plots the assassination of the Emperor. However, the consequences of the particular decision taken by the ruthless lord will come back haunting him. Director Akira Kurosawa was nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival of 1957, losing it against Satyajit Ray for his noticeable Indian masterpiece Aparajito (1956).

    Several Shakespearian cinematic perspectives had focused their emphasis on the character development through a loyalty towards the original dialogue. This time, Kurosawa focuses his vision on adapting it to a breathtaking ancient tale of Japan, transporting us to a whole new world. The brilliance of this particular adaptation is making a very direct and undeniably scary social statement: human history has been plagued by lords that share the authoritarian and ambitious characteristics of Lord Washizu. Not only have they executed their will to a submissive society, but also have achieved to gain political power through doubtful and non-moralistic actions, including blackmail and murder. With Kumonosu-jou, the director straightforwardly offers a story of revenge, ambition, overpowerment, totalitarian control and the subject matter commonly shared by dictatorships and monarchies.

    Kumonosu-jou effectively makes an addition of the supernatural elements that have always governed most of Shakespeare's work: the apparition of the ghost of a brutally murdered character who desires for revenge through his mortal acquaintances or relatives, a ghost that predicts the future of a cold-blooded warrior only to result in his doom, surreal sequences that regard either an irreversible past or future equivocate decisions. This time, the terrifyingly looking female spirit possesses a macabre feeling, regardless of her possible intentions. The narrative structure suggests that her mostly implicit performance plays a role of irony and unintentional cathartic doom. To what extent can the certainty of the future affect the present life? How much will the pride and primitive ambition of mankind be maximized? What are the reasons behind these humanly controllable consequences? Kurosawa had exalted the human condition, the honor and the glory of justice through the characters of his past films. This time, he degrades and even mocks the contradictory nature of influential political figures. Even the femme fatale, passionately incarnated by the actress Isuzu Yamada, represents the desperate urge of power and an infuriating insatiateness of materialism.

    Toshirô Mifune has finally suffered the extraordinary serious, cold-blooded and samurai-type transformation since Rashômon (1950) and Shichinin no Samurai (1954). The samurai assassin with no scruples that would assume the role of the ronin Tsubaki Sanjûrô in the subsequent Kurosawa films can be seen here, disguising his cruelty with a strict discipline and a distorted patriotism. The cinematography is extraordinary, surpassing the balance and vastness of past Kurosawa projects and enhancing the tragic proportions of this tale that has the ability of leaving audiences totally breathless. A very precise and razor-sharp screenplay allows the characters to exploit their very distinguished and brutal personalities, with the necessary amount of Shakespearian words and thought-provoking wisdom. Splitting the film in half, we witness a marvelous pace of hypnotic rhythm and an inevitably predictable, yet equally devastating, action-oriented climax, showing the necessary rebellion of a certain population against those monstrous political forces that shame the term "monarchy".

    To interpret Kumonosu-jou as a literary adaptation of Macbeth in the strictest sense of the term is a misleading perspective. A tale of morality, unavoidable doom and self-destruction is unfolded through Kurosawa's beautiful handling of aesthetics. The extraordinary performances, an epic costume design, facial gestures resembling feudal and traditional masks and a powerfully artistic direction set the bases for subsequent filmic attempts, including Ran (1985). However, this film had a moral purpose, whether the rest fall into the same category. We are invited to explore the devastating implications of war during feudal Japan with the Buddhism as the machinist of benign motivations and the filling of emotional voids. The extensive length of the Shakespeare plays has always been characteristic; nonetheless, the several writers that contributed to the development of the screenplay could accurately sum up the elements and the subject matter that composed such an ambitious play like Macbeth is. Avoiding ineffective stereotypes and constructing Japanese archetypes that can symbolize greed, egotism and mindless power, the artistic proportions of Kumonosu-jou are artistically jubilant, culminating in a feast for the senses and in a self-reflexive masterpiece of Noh reaching its highest peak of expression.

    100/100
  • smootysveen
    November 13, 2009
    smootysveen
    No one consistently packs a wallop in climactic scenes like AK.
  • ahhh1989
    November 1, 2009
    ahhh1989
    It's like watching the Psycho shower scene on repeat! So extreme and horrifying and messy, but so brilliant.
  • macabrescribe
    October 7, 2009
    macabrescribe
    Throne of Blood was my first Kurosawa film. I enjoyed many of its aspects, but some irked me. There are sequences that don't seem relevant and are omission worthy. Another feature that bothered me was that certain key sections were very anticlimactic. I don't know if that's Kuros...( read more)awa's style, but it didn't feel right.
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