Sat 7 & Sun 8 at 4:30 Athena Cinemas

Throne of Blood (Kumonosu Jo)

Japan, 1957, 110 mins, 35mm print
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Minoru Chiaki


Kabuki Macbeth, and like nothing you've ever seen. A truly remarkable film combining beauty and terror to produce a mood of haunting power, Throne of Blood was the brilliant fulfillment of Japanese master Akira Kurosawa's longtime ambition to bring Shakespeare to Japanese audiences. Kurosawa set the story in feudal Japan, and the transposition of cultures is surprisingly successful, with all the plot elements intact. After putting down a mutinous rebellion for their lord, warriors Taketoki Washizu (Toshiro Mifune) and Yoshaki Miki (Minoru Chiaki) are called to the main castle for an audience. Riding through the dense and foggy forest that protects the warlord's castle, they encounter a mysterious old woman bathed in white light and mist. When questioned, the woman prophesies that Washizu will be given command of a castle and soon become warlord, but his reign will be brief and his throne will be occupied by his friend's son thereafter. When it appears her predictions are coming true, Washizu grows increasingly corrupted by his own ambitions.

Throne of Blood is filled with unforgettable, haunting imagery. Departing from his usual (very Western) fluid camera style and fast-paced editing, Kurosawa borrowed here from the conventions of Noh theater. While the visuals are gorgeous, the compositions are static and stagy, concentrating on the emotional moment as it seems to hang in the air, unaltered by editing or camera movement. The visual and acting styles work marvelously with the material, although the film is somewhat cold and detached. Kurosawa has a lot of fun with the advance of Birnam Wood, Yamanda's Lady Macbeth is a virtuoso fright and Mifune's demise is in the most grand, outrageous Kabuki fashion. This is filmmaking with risk and greatness in its blood.

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