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Throne of Blood (1957)
"Kumonosu-jô" (original title)

 -  Drama  -  22 November 1961 (USA)
8.1
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Ratings: 8.1/10 from 18,738 users  
Reviews: 85 user | 77 critic

A war-hardened general, egged on by his ambitious wife, works to fulfill a prophecy that he would become lord of Spider's Web Castle.

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(screenplay), (screenplay), 3 more credits »
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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
Isuzu Yamada ...
...
Akira Kubo ...
Hiroshi Tachikawa ...
Kunimaru Tsuzuki (as Yôichi Tachikawa)
Minoru Chiaki ...
Takamaru Sasaki ...
Kuniharu Tsuzuki
Gen Shimizu
Kokuten Kôdô ...
Military Commander
Kichijirô Ueda ...
Washizu's workman
Eiko Miyoshi ...
Old Woman at castle
Chieko Naniwa ...
Nakajirô Tomita ...
Second Military Commander
Yû Fujiki ...
Washizu samurai
Sachio Sakai ...
Washizu samurai
Edit

Storyline

A transposition of Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' to medieval Japan. After a great military victory, Lords Washizu and Miki are lost in the dense Cobweb Forest, where they meet a mysterious old woman who predicts great things for Washizu and even greater things for Miki's descendants. Once out of the forest, Washizu and Miki are immediately promoted by the Emperor. Washizu, encouraged by his ambitious wife, plots to make even more of the prophecy come true, even if it means killing the Emperor... Written by Michael Brooke <michael@everyman.demon.co.uk>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

forest | castle | prophecy | traitor | battle | See more »

Genres:

Drama

Certificate:

Unrated | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

22 November 1961 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Throne of Blood  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Company Credits

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Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(Western Electric Recording)| (Perspecta Sound encoding)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
See  »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The famous arrow scene near the end was in fact done with real arrows. That is, the arrows hitting the wooden planks were not done with special effects, but rather choreographed with archers. Mifune waves his arms to brush away the arrows sticking from the planks, indicating to them that he wanted to go in that particular direction. The real arrows were included to get Mifune's facial expressions of real-life fear, which is exceptionally hard to imitate. Of course, the arrows that hit the Mifune character were bamboo fakes. See more »

Goofs

After Mifune and his friend come to the forest clearing where the spirit dwells, as they get down from their horses, all of Mifune's arrows fall out of his quiver. In the next shot however, the quiver is full of arrows again. See more »

Quotes

Old Ghost Woman: [singing] ambition is false fame and will fall, death will reign, man falls in vain
See more »

Connections

Version of Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth (2005) See more »

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User Reviews

 
Kurosawa's masterful retelling of Shakespeare's Macbeth
26 December 1998 | by (Los Angeles) – See all my reviews

Akira Kurosawa would end up using Shakespearean influence on two of his films. Throne of Blood is Kurosawa's adaptation of Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, but in a feudal Japanese setting.

The film begins with Taketoki Washizu (Toshiro Mifune) and Yoshaki Miki (Minoru Chiaki) winning a fierce battle for their lord. Afterwards, they are invited to the lord's castle. On their way there, they come across a spirit in the forest. the spirit tells Washizu that he will soon become in command of a castle but that he will not rule long, and Yoshaki's son will soon takeover. Washizu is soon convinced that these predictions will come true, and becomes consumed with greed and evil in order to make sure that they do indeed come true.

In this film Kurosawa uses a more still and quiet filming style than was used in his previous films (with the exception of Ikiru). A style that he continued to use for the rest of his career. The Shakespearean influence is obviously there, not only in story, but the film itself has a very theatre-esque feeling to it.


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