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IMDbPro

Throne of Blood

Original title: Kumonosu-jô
  • 19571957
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 50m
IMDb RATING
8.1/10
52K
YOUR RATING
Toshirô Mifune and Isuzu Yamada in Throne of Blood (1957)
  • Drama
  • History
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.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.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.
IMDb RATING
8.1/10
52K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Akira Kurosawa
  • Writers
    • Hideo Oguni(screenplay)
    • Shinobu Hashimoto(screenplay)
    • Ryûzô Kikushima(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Toshirô Mifune
    • Minoru Chiaki
    • Isuzu Yamada
Top credits
  • Director
    • Akira Kurosawa
  • Writers
    • Hideo Oguni(screenplay)
    • Shinobu Hashimoto(screenplay)
    • Ryûzô Kikushima(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Toshirô Mifune
    • Minoru Chiaki
    • Isuzu Yamada
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 166User reviews
    • 99Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 4 wins & 2 nominations

    Photos113

    Toshirô Mifune in Throne of Blood (1957)
    Toshirô Mifune in Throne of Blood (1957)
    Toshirô Mifune in Throne of Blood (1957)
    Isuzu Yamada in Throne of Blood (1957)
    Throne of Blood (1957)
    Throne of Blood (1957)
    Throne of Blood (1957)
    Throne of Blood (1957)
    Throne of Blood (1957)
    Toshirô Mifune in Throne of Blood (1957)
    Toshirô Mifune in Throne of Blood (1957)
    Toshirô Mifune in Throne of Blood (1957)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Toshirô Mifune
    Toshirô Mifune
    • Taketoki Washizuas Taketoki Washizu
    Minoru Chiaki
    Minoru Chiaki
    • Yoshiaki Mikias Yoshiaki Miki
    Isuzu Yamada
    Isuzu Yamada
    • Lady Asaji Washizuas Lady Asaji Washizu
    Takashi Shimura
    Takashi Shimura
    • Noriyasu Odaguraas Noriyasu Odagura
    Akira Kubo
    Akira Kubo
    • Yoshiteru Mikias Yoshiteru Miki
    Hiroshi Tachikawa
    • Kunimaru Tsuzukias Kunimaru Tsuzuki
    • (as Yôichi Tachikawa)
    Takamaru Sasaki
    • Kuniharu Tsuzukias Kuniharu Tsuzuki
    Gen Shimizu
    Gen Shimizu
    • Washizu samuraias Washizu samurai
    Kokuten Kôdô
    Kokuten Kôdô
    • Military Commanderas Military Commander
    Kichijirô Ueda
    Kichijirô Ueda
    • Washizu's workmanas Washizu's workman
    Eiko Miyoshi
    Eiko Miyoshi
    • Old Woman at castleas Old Woman at castle
    Chieko Naniwa
    Chieko Naniwa
    • Old Ghost Womanas Old Ghost Woman
    Nakajirô Tomita
    • Second Military Commanderas Second Military Commander
    Yû Fujiki
    • Washizu samuraias Washizu samurai
    Sachio Sakai
    • Washizu samuraias Washizu samurai
    Shin Ôtomo
    Shin Ôtomo
    • Washizu samuraias Washizu samurai
    Yoshio Tsuchiya
    Yoshio Tsuchiya
    • Washizu samuraias Washizu samurai
    Yoshio Inaba
    Yoshio Inaba
    • Third Military Commanderas Third Military Commander
    • Director
      • Akira Kurosawa
    • Writers
      • Hideo Oguni(screenplay)
      • Shinobu Hashimoto(screenplay)
      • Ryûzô Kikushima(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Originally, Akira Kurosawa was planning on building merely a facade castle for the film, but this proved to be an impractical step, prompting the building of full castle sections to use in shooting. These were built with the help of United States Marines who were based in the area.
    • Goofs
      When the witch runs in the forest, she briefly can be seen wearing sneakers.
    • Quotes

      Lady Asaji Washizu: Admirable, my Lord. You, who would soon rule the world, allow a ghost to frighten you.

    • Connections
      Featured in A Japanese Film Festival (1957)

    User reviews166

    Review
    Top review
    10/10
    Another ambitious film from Akira Kurosawa.
    Throne of Blood is, in fact, ambitious as a film as well as in its meaning. It suggests that ambition, when based on whimsical motivation, can sometimes lead to the destruction of very close relationships, and even one's own ruination. Throne of Blood begins with a series of messengers bringing news to their daimyo about an invasion of North Castle by the Fujimaki, which is led by an enemy samurai named Inui. The invasion is broken and then bravely retaliated against by two armies which are led by two samurai, Washizu and Miki. As they are returning to the daimyo, they come across a ghostly spirit in the woods, who predicts leadership positions to be attained by each of them that very day. These predictions come true to the last detail, which sets off a destructive chain of events.

    Miki becomes the leader of Fort One, as predicted, and Washizu becomes the leader of the North Castle, as predicted, but it is also predicted that Miki's son will rule North Castle after Washizu, which causes problems later in the film. Despite their good fortune, Miki and especially Washizu must keep their encounter with the fortune-telling spirit in the woods a secret because, if word gets out, Washizu is likely to become endangered because people will want him dead out of suspicion that he will try to kill Yoshiteru, Miki's son, to keep him from taking over Washizu's position. In an effort to prevent any of this, Washizu decides to name Yoshiteru as his heir, but Asaji, his wife, forbids this, saying that she is pregnant. It is Asaji who pressures Washizu into having Miki killed so that he can be the sole ruler of all of the provinces, but when this happens, the other castles turn against him and seek to avenge the leaders who have been killed under his orders. In the end, he is killed by his own army, which has lost all faith in him and has also turned against him.

    There was a very interesting use of symbolism in Throne of Blood that is worth pointing out here. From literally the beginning to the end of the film, the setting is covered in thick fog. One scene that comes to mind that quite clearly communicates the meaning of this fog is early in the film, just after Washizu and Miki saw the spirit in the woods, and had their futures revealed to them. As they are riding out of the woods and back to the castle, they begin to cross large, flat plains that are covered in this stiflingly thick fog. There is literally a couple of minutes of footage of them riding their horses into the fog, then back toward the camera, then into the fog in another direction, and then back toward the camera, and so on. This fog seems to symbolize a natural inability to see ahead, or to see the future, as it were. This technique is especially effective this early in the film because much of the two men's decisions later in the film are founded on what the spirit told them, yet the fog symbolizes a type of foreshadowing that suggests that this premonition cannot be correct.

    Throne of Blood is also structured in a very unique way. The film starts off showing a desolated castle, as well as its surroundings, in which there is a sizeable gravestone marking a burial site. While this is being shown, there is a song being sung by an unseen choir about a brave warrior who once ruled this now-deserted castle, but who was `murdered by ambition.' At the end of the film, we see this same montage, and the same song is heard, and this is where we learn that the gravestone marks Washizu's burial site.

    Kurosawa used different camera techniques to communicate parts of the story or to emphasize it in various ways much more than he did in other films, like Ran, Kagemusha, and High and Low. One particularly noteworthy example occurred late in the film, as Washizu is standing over his army. Washizu stands on an elevated walkway, and his army is crowded on the ground below, looking up at him. There is a low angle shot from amidst the men, and while Washizu is small in the shot itself, he is high above the other men, looking down at them, and they are all looking up at him in unison. However, it would seem that, rather than use this shot to convey a sense of superiority or of dominance, Kurosawa probably meant to emphasize his position of power, because this is the scene in which his army turns against him and he is shot with dozens of their arrows. The low angle shot would contradict Washizu's descent into madness if it was meant to show superiority, but to emphasize his position of power at this point in the film, it makes his downfall much more dramatic.

    This is usually not the case with Akira Kurosawa, but Throne of Blood reflects more of a formalistic style of direction. For example, his use of high and low angle shots, as well as the extensive symbolic use of the fog, suggest more formalism here than realism. Besides that, and probably more obviously, is the way that the strange spirit in the woods was presented. She was in a radiantly lit hut in the middle of the dark woods, and Washizu's encounter with several other spirits later in the film was presented among an extensive use of cutting and editing. The extensive use of very long takes and slow action seen in Ran and Kagemusha is definitely seen here, but not nearly as much. There are scenes in which these long takes are seen, but in addition to them there can be found many more short takes and highly edited sequences, which were largely absent from the previous films. But having done this with the same skill, Kurosawa has fashioned another samurai masterpiece.
    helpful•37
    14
    • Anonymous_Maxine
    • Aug 7, 2001

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 22, 1961 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Japan
    • Language
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
      • Krvavi prestol
    • Filming locations
      • Gotemba, Shizuoka, Japan
    • Production companies
      • Toho Company
      • Kurosawa Production Co.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $46,808
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $15,942
      • Jul 28, 2002
    • Gross worldwide
      • $46,808
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 50 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

    Related news

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    Toshirô Mifune and Isuzu Yamada in Throne of Blood (1957)
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