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

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Hideo Oguni (screenplay) &
Shinobu Hashimoto (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

22 November 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Forest | Castle | Prophecy | Traitor | Battle

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Toshirô Mifune	...	Taketoki Washizu
Isuzu Yamada	...	Lady Asaji Washizu
Takashi Shimura	...	Noriyasu Odagura
Akira Kubo	...	Yoshiteru Miki
Hiroshi Tachikawa	...	Kunimaru Tsuzuki (as Yôichi Tachikawa)
Minoru Chiaki	...	Yoshiaki Miki
Takamaru Sasaki	...	Kuniharu Tsuzuki
Gen Shimizu
Kokuten Kôdô	...	Military Commander
Kichijirô Ueda	...	Washizu's workman
Eiko Miyoshi	...	Old Woman at castle
Chieko Naniwa	...	Old Ghost Woman
Nakajirô Tomita	...	Second Military Commander
Yû Fujiki	...	Washizu samurai
Sachio Sakai	...	Washizu samurai
Shin Ôtomo	...	Washizu samurai
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	Washizu samurai
Yoshio Inaba	...	Third Military Commander
Takeo Oikawa	...	Miki party member
Akira Tani	...	Washizu soldier
Ikio Sawamura	...	Washizu soldier
Yutaka Sada	...	Washizu samurai
Seijirô Onda	...	Second Miki party member
Shinpei Takagi	...	Commander
Masao Masuda	...	Commander
Mitsuo Asano
Akifumi Inoue	...	Servant
Asao Koike
Takeshi Katô	...	Guard killed by Washizu
Hitoshi Takagi	...	Tsuzuki guard
Michiya Higuchi	...	Tsuki guard
Senkichi Ômura	...	Washizu samurai
Kyorô Sakurai	...	Servant
Shirô Tsuchiya	...	Commander
Takaeo Matsushita	...	Commander
Jun Ôtomo	...	Commander
Kamayuki Tsubono	...	Servant
Fuminori Ôhashi	...	Samurai
Isao Kimura	...	Phantom samurai
Seiji Miyaguchi	...	Phantom samurai
Nobuo Nakamura	...	Phantom samurai

Directed by
Akira Kurosawa

Writing credits
Hideo Oguni		(screenplay) &
Shinobu Hashimoto		(screenplay) &
Ryûzô Kikushima		(screenplay) &
Akira Kurosawa		(screenplay)
William Shakespeare		(play "Macbeth") uncredited

Produced by
Akira Kurosawa	....	producer
Sôjirô Motoki	....	producer

Original Music by
Masaru Satô

Cinematography by
Asakazu Nakai

Production Design by
Yoshirô Muraki

Makeup Department
Masanori Kobayashi	....	makeup artist (as M. Kobayashi)
Yoshiko Matsumoto	....	hair stylist
Junjirô Yamada	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Hiroshi Nezu	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Yoshimitsu Banno	....	assistant director (as Yoshimitsu Sakano)
Hiromichi Horikawa	....	chief assistant director
Mimachi Norase	....	chief assistant director
Ken Sano	....	assistant director
Shoya Shimizu	....	assistant director
Yasuyoshi Tajitsu	....	assistant director
Michio Yamamoto	....	assistant director

Art Department
Kôhei Ezaki	....	art supervisor
Kôichi Hamamura	....	property master
Yoshifumi Honda	....	assistant art director
Kaneko	....	props

Sound Department
Ichirô Minawa	....	sound effects editor
Masanao Uehara	....	assistant sound
Fumio Yanoguchi	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Eiji Tsuburaya	....	special effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Masao Fukuda	....	still photographer
Shozo Hada	....	assistant lighting technician
Kuichirô Kishida	....	lighting director
Takao Saitô	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Taiki Mori	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Chozo Obata	....	negative cutter

Other crew
Fabrice Arduini	....	french adaptation: original version with subtitles
Shigeru Endo	....	horseback riding instructor
Ikemichi Hashimoto	....	accountant
Ienori Kaneko	....	horseback riding instructor
Teruyo Nogami	....	script supervisor
Keiko Tsubai	....	french adaptation: original version with subtitles
Pascal Vincent	....	press attache: France (re-release: 2001 )

Production Companies

• Toho Company (presents)
• Kurosawa Production Co.

Distributors

• Toho Company (1957) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Toho Video (2002) (Japan) (DVD)
• Alive (2001) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Atlantic Film (1994) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Cowboy Pictures (2002) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Kommanditbolaget Mårten Kihlman Ky & Co (1982) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Television och Smalfilm (1965) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Théâtre du Temple (????) (France) (theatrical)
• trigon-film (2012) (Austria) (theatrical)
• trigon-film (2012) (Germany) (theatrical)
• trigon-film (2012) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Arte Vidéo (2001) (France) (DVD)
• Brandon Films (1961) (USA) (subtitled)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Krause & Schneider Multimedia (KSM) (2008) (Germany) (DVD)
• La Sept Video (1999) (France) (VHS)
• Media Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Sandrews (2006) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Tocantins (Brazil) (VHS)
• Wild Side Vidéo (2006) (France) (DVD)
• WoWow (2012) (Japan) (TV)
• trigon-film (2012) (Germany) (DVD) (special edition)
• trigon-film (2012) (Switzerland) (DVD) (Special edition)

Special Effects

• Toho Special Effects Group

Other Companies

• C.D.C.  Italian post-synchronized version made by
• Fono Roma  post-synchronization: Italian dubbed version
• Toho Studios  sound stages

Also Known As:

"Kumonosu-jô" - Japan (original title)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording) | Mono (Perspecta Sound encoding)

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Switzerland:14 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1991) | UK:12 (re-rating) (2001) | USA:Unrated | Singapore:PG | Portugal:M/12 | Netherlands:12 | South Africa:PG | USA:TV-MA (cable rating) | Sweden:15 | Finland:K-15 (new rating: 2001) | Finland:K-16 (original rating) | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Gotemba, Shizuoka, Japan

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

Those are real arrows being fired into Mifune at the end of the film, though hollowed out and run along wires to ensure they hit their target.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When the witch runs in the forest she can briefly be seen wearing sneakers.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Millennium Actress (2001)

more should watch this

As much as I praise Mifune, it may well be Yamada who stands out in Kurosawa's version of Macbeth. Her Lady Macbeth is one of the most terrifying things I have ever seen, a forerunner to Sadako. Dressed in Noh make-up, slow moving like the world's most effective predator, unblinking, she is, without a doubt, the true lady Macbeth. She turns Mifune towards murder, and, although she is seen going mad at the end, we do not see her die. The tragedy of the tale is heightened by the fact that we are told at the start what will happen. Every shot Kurosawa composes is memorable. The arrow through the neck, the thread spinning witch in the forest, Mifune turning his back on his master, all are haunting and unforgettable. This film cannot be praised enough, and although it is not a horror movie, it puts all modern horror movies to shame with its deadly atmosphere. Great Quotes: Asaji. ‘Every samurai longs to be the master of a castle'. 10 out of ten.