Throne of Blood
Throne of Blood
Kumonosu Jo (1957)
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Minoru Chiaki
An authentic masterpiece, a film reference to one of the greatest geniuses of cinema of all time, Throne of Blood is the adaptation that made Akira Kurosawa's "Macbeth" by Shakespeare, perhaps influenced by the adaptations of the English poet who was making another great monster movie as Orson Welles, the idea of Kurosawa, who also put into practice in his "King Lear" particular years later (Ran - 1985), was to move the drama and vitality of the works of Shakespeare the stage of Japan's feudal sixteenth century, successfully interpreting the parallels between both worlds, while offering an update to the classic Japanese drama.
The story takes place in a Japan ravaged by civil wars between different kingdoms, Generals Washizu (Toshiro Mifune) and Miki (Minoru Chiaki) are coming home after a battle across a forest where they encounter a witch who predicts the future of Washizu, telling which will be the first lord of the Casa del Norte and later lord of the castle of cobwebs. Then begins a fierce struggle for power in the neighboring kingdoms and little by little Washizu, driven by the insatiable ambition of his wife will be watching as it meets a one all predictions.
In a sober and elegant black and white (Kurosawa took to be decided by the color), Throne of Blood offers a sublime atmosphere, with great profusion of detail and a sequence of extraordinary beauty where rain, fog and the night will be used on an exceptional basis to give drama to a story already laden with symbolism and magic.
Toshiro Mifune, Kurosawa actor almost irreplaceable done here for one of his best roles, more restrained than usual, sublime representing the contradictions between ambition and honor, between loyalty and betrayal; also emphasizes the interpretation of Isuzu Yamada, in the Role of Washizu woman whose ambition knows no limits.
Throne of Blood, despite its literary source is a real action movie, a film that absorbs and hipnotiza, with plenty of epic battles, with betrayals, murder and moments of a brutal expressiveness as the tragic end of the famous scene in Washizu the rain of arrows.
All the work of Akira Kurosawa is of paramount importance, and Throne of Blood is the perfect example, a film which has undoubtedly left a deep imprint.
