Throne of Blood
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Minoru Chiaki, Isuzu Yamada, Takashi Shimuri, Akira Kubo
Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Drama
1957

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A general (Toshiro Mifune) is visited by a supernatural being who proclaims he will be the king of Spider's Web Castle. His wife (Isuzu Yamada) is determined to see this come true, by any means necessary.

Review:
Tim: Akira Kurosawa is undoubtedly one of the all-time great directors. Seven Samurai is one of my favorite movies and Rashomon is obviously a classic. However, I think Throne of Blood is far below both those iconic movies, more in line with The Hidden Fortress. This is a good movie and it features some brilliant moments, but it's not a film I would include in Kurosawa's best. I recognize I may not align with a majority of critics on this one.

I found it interesting that this film was Kurosawa's adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth. I'm a big fan of Shakespeare and I've got decent familiarity with the story. I wish Kurosawa had stepped away from the source material just a bit more. The story feels a bit too familiar, like we've seen this before. It would have been stronger for the film to take more liberties with the adaptation. I know that's not often what you hear in these cases, but I believe following Shakespeare's path constrained this movie somewhat. That play was written for a different audience in a different culture. I appreciated the adjustments made to the story in the script, but I wish there were more.

I also found the film a bit redundant. The movie is 1 hour 50 minutes, but it feels a bit longer because of how much time Kurosawa takes to get things moving. It felt to me like there were far too many scenes of Washizu stalking around an open room, his wife sitting demurely in the center while they discussed treason, strategy, their next steps. I love Toshiro Mifune, but he spends a lot of this movie walking back and forth and looking at his wife incredulously. It felt like Kurosawa got stuck in these elements. This is likely due to the adaptation- Shakespeare was all about dialogue, so you could watch two characters have a conversation for twenty minutes and it's riveting because the poetry of the words they use. Shakespeare makes two characters talking a brilliant, entertaining, beautiful thing. That's not the case here. The dialogue didn't make the translation here. The characters aren't spouting genius dialogue, they're just talking. Kurosawa needed to cut down on the basic dialogue and shift that time to something more engaging (or, I suppose, try to make the dialogue more Shakespearean, but good luck because that's no small task). All this translates into a film that feels like it continually drags and takes far too long to get to the next big moment. I think that hurts the film's overall effectiveness.

Now, I wanted to highlight some of the film's flaws, but I really did enjoy the movie. Every time I get to see Toshiro Mifune act, it feels like a gift. He's one of the best actors of all time, perfectly embodying his culture and his time. I would watch him do anything. I do wish he had more to do in this film, but the movie is absolutely better because he's in the lead role. Isuzu Yamada was decent, but it felt like too many of her scenes were at a distance- the movie feels less interested in her and more willing to heap the blame solely on her shoulders. This is another issue with the translation, I believe. Lady Macbeth is a fascinating character, but Lady Washizu seems less so. The movie feels more comfortable blaming her, verses the more nuanced approach in Macbeth. I thought Minoru Chiaki did an excellent job, too. I wish he had more screen time- the film eventually moves mostly away from him to focus on Washizu. It would have been better had Chiaki been given more to do.

I do need to highlight the film's greatest scene (in my opinion, obviously)- the final climax. I'll try to choose my words carefully here, but a SPOILER WARNING would probably be safer. The arrow scene at the end is simply outstanding. That was the scene where I most fully felt Kurosawa's genius. Yes, the scene was somewhat limited by the visual effects of the day, but the reliance on practical effects- of shooting arrows so close to an actor creates a feeling of stunning realism. The scene is transfixing and brilliant. It's the highlight of the film for me and more evidence of Kurosawa being a true master. I loved it.

I do wish I loved Throne of Blood in its entirety as much as I loved that final scene, but what are you going to do? This is still a good movie, a fine piece of filmmaking from one of the greats. It's a movie I would undoubtedly recommend.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Hidden Fortress, Seven Samurai, Rashomon