Throne of Blood

Throne of Blood
File:Throne of Blood poster.jpg Original Japanese poster
Directed by	Akira Kurosawa
Written by	Shinobu Hashimoto Ryuzo Kikushima Akira Kurosawa Hideo Oguni William Shakespeare (play)
Produced by	Sojiro Motoki Akira Kurosawa
Starring	Toshirō Mifune Isuzu Yamada Takashi Shimura
Cinematography	Asakazu Nakai
Edited by	Akira Kurosawa
Music by	Masaru Sato
Distributed by	Toho
Release dates	15 January 1957 (Japan) 22 November 1961 (USA)
Running time	105 min.
Country	Template:Film Japan
Language	Japanese

Throne of Blood is a 1957 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa. Its original Japanese title is Kumonosu-jō (蜘蛛巣城), which means "Spider Web Castle". The film transposes the plot of William Shakespeare's play Macbeth to feudal Japan.

Plot

Generals Miki and Washizu are samurai commanders under a local lord who reigns in the castle in the Spider's Web Forest. After defeating the lord's enemies in battle, they return to the lord's castle. On their way through the forest surrounding the castle, they meet a spirit, who foretells their future. The spirit tells them that today Washizu will be named master of the North Castle and Miki will now command Fort One. She then foretells that Washizu will eventually become Lord of Forest Castle, and finally she tells Miki that his son will also become lord of the castle.

As the two return to their lord's estate, the lord promptly rewards the two with exactly what the spirit had predicted. As Washizu discusses this with his wife Asaji, she manipulates him into making the second part of the prophecy come true by killing the lord. When the lord visits, Washizu kills him with the help of his wife who poisons the lord's guards. When Washizu returns in shock at his deed, Asaji grabs the bloody spear and puts it in the hands of one of the three unconscious guards. She then yells "murder" through the courtyard, and Washizu slays the guard before he has a chance to plead his innocence.

The lord's vengeful son Kunimaru and a rival of Washizu named Noriyasu both suspect Washizu as the murderous traitor and try to warn Miki, who refuses to believe what they are saying about his friend. Washizu, though, is unsure of Miki's loyalty, but he desires to trust his friend and he still plans to let Miki's son be his heir, since he and Asaji have been unable to bear a child of their own.

Washizu plans to tell Miki and his son about his decision at a grand banquet, but Asaji tells him that she is pregnant, which leaves him with a quandary concerning his heir. During the banquet Washizu drinks sake copiously because he is clearly agitated, and at the sudden appearance of Miki's ghost, begins losing control. In his delusional panic, he reveals his betrayal to all by exclaiming that he is willing to slay Miki for a second time, going so far as unsheathing his sword and striking over Miki's mat. Asaji, attempting to pick up the pieces of Washizu's blunder, tells the guests that he is drunk and that they must retire for the evening. Then one of his men arrive with the severed head of Miki. The guard also tells them that Miki's son escaped.

Later, distraught upon hearing of his wife's miscarriage and in dire need of help with the impending battle with his foes, he returns to the forest to summon the spirit. She tells him that he will not be defeated unless the very trees of Spider's Web forest rise against the castle. Washizu believes this is impossible and is confident of his victory. Washizu knows he must kill all his enemies, so he tells his troops of the last prophecy, and they share his confidence.

He then finds Asaji in a semi-catatonic state, trying to wash clean the imaginary foul stench of blood from her hands, obviously distraught at her grave misdeeds. Distracted by the sound of his troops moving outside the room, he investigates and is told by a panicked soldier that the trees of Spider's Web forest "have risen to attack us." The prophecy has come true and Washizu is doomed.

As Washizu tries to get his troops to attack, they remain still. Finally they turn on their master and begin firing arrows at him as revenge for his traitorous actions. Washizu finally succumbs to his wounds just as his enemies approach the castle gates. It is revealed that the attacking force is using trees cut down during the previous night to disguise and protect themselves in their advance on the castle.

Cast

Character	Equivalent in Macbeth	Actor
Washizu	Macbeth	Toshirō Mifune
Asaji	Lady Macbeth	Isuzu Yamada
Miki	Banquo	Minoru Chiaki
Forest Spirit	The Three Witches	Chieko Naniwa
Lord Tzuzuki	King Duncan	Hiroshi Tachikawa
Yoshiteru	Fleance	Akira Kubo
Kuniharu	Malcolm and/or Donalbain	Takamaru Sasaki
Noriyasu	MacDuff	Takashi Shimura

Production

The castle exteriors were built and shot high up on Mt. Fuji. The castle courtyard was constructed at Toho's Tamagawa studio, with volcanic soil brought from Fuji so that the ground would match. The interiors were shot in a smaller Tokyo studio. The forest scenes were a combination of actual Fuji forest and studio shots in Tokyo. Washizu's mansion was shot in the Izu peninsula.

In Kurosawa's own words, "It was a very hard film to make. We decided that the main castle set had to be built on the slope of Mount Fuji, not because I wanted to show this mountain but because it has precisely the stunted landscape that I wanted. And it is usually foggy. I had decided that I wanted lots of fog for this film... Making the set was very difficult because we didn't have enough people and the location was so far from Tokyo. Fortunately, there was a U.S. Marine Corps base nearby and they helped a great deal; also a whole MP battalion helped us out. We all worked very hard indeed, clearing the ground, building the set. Our labor on this steep fog-bound slope, I remember, absolutely exhausted us; we almost got sick."

Washizu's famous death scene, in which his own archers turn upon him and fill his body with arrows, was in fact performed with real arrows, a choice made to help Mifune produce realistic facial expressions of fear. The arrows seen to impact the wooden walls were not superimposed or faked by special effects, but instead shot by choreographed archers. During filming, Mifune waved his arms, ostensibly because his character was trying to brush away the arrows embedded in the planks; this indicated to the archers the direction in which Mifune wanted to move.

Influence

Toshirō Mifune's death scene was the source of inspiration for Piper Laurie's impalement death scene in Carrie. Throne of Blood is also referenced in the anime film Millennium Actress.

"Throne of Blood" was adapted for the stage by director Ping Chong. This version premiered at the 2010 Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon, USA.

Reception

The film has received praise from literary critics, despite the many liberties it takes with the original play. The American literary critic Harold Bloom judged it "the most successful film version of Macbeth." Throne of Blood is reputed to have been a favorite of poet T. S. Eliot.

External links

• Throne of Blood at IMDb
• Template:Amg movie
• "Shakespeare Transposed" essay by Stephen Prince
• Program note from the 1957 San Francisco International Film Festival
• Throne of Blood Template:Ja icon at the Japanese Movie Database