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Throne of Blood (JPN)

Throne of Blood (JPN)

Throne of Blood (JPN)

7.9/10 Great 1022 votes

Runtime
110 min
Original title
蜘蛛巣城
Language
ja

What it is about

Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.

Trailer

Cast

  • Toshirō Mifune Taketoki Washizu
  • Isuzu Yamada Lady Asaji Washizu
  • Takashi Shimura Noriyasu Odagura
  • Akira Kubo Yoshiteru Miki
  • Hiroshi Tachikawa Kunimaru Tsuzuki
  • Minoru Chiaki Yoshiaki Miki
  • Takamaru Sasaki Kuniharu Tsuzuki
  • Gen Shimizu Washizu samurai
  • Kokuten Kōdō Military Commander
  • Kichijirō Ueda Washizu's workman
  • Eiko Miyoshi Old Woman at castle
  • Chieko Naniwa Old Ghost Woman
  • Nakajirō Tomita Military Commander #2
  • Yū Fujiki Washizu samurai
  • Sachio Sakai Washizu samurai

Crew

  • Director Akira Kurosawa
  • Screenplay Shinobu Hashimoto
  • Screenplay Hideo Oguni
  • Screenplay Akira Kurosawa
  • Screenplay Ryuzo Kikushima
  • Original Music Composer Masaru Satō
  • Director of Photography Asakazu Nakai
  • Editor Akira Kurosawa
  • Producer Akira Kurosawa
  • Producer Sōjirō Motoki

What viewers said

One of a number of films that Akira Kurosawa made in the 1950s and which have become classics, <i>Throne of Blood</i> is the director's adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth, set in feudal Japan but showing that lust for power is a perennial feature of human society. Washizu (the Macbeth character, Toshiro Mifune) is a soldier serving the lord of Spiders-Web Castle. […]

CRCulver — 8/10 · read in full

I think that this is a superb tragi-adventure story that stands out well amongst the numerous loose adaptations of Shakespeare that have been made over the years. Kurosawa takes the Scottish play and gives it the "Noh" treatment that delivers an enigmatic and tautly directed rendition of a story of betrayal, power and insanity. […]

CinemaSerf — 7/10 · read in full

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