Throne of Blood Review from David Quigley

I am a fan of Shakespeare, so I was curious to see how this film did with adapting the story of Macbeth to Japan. I should have known that Kurosawa would come through, as he always has. The movie was beautifully made, with Kurosawa giving a nod to the Noh theater that obviously influenced his direction. It is a tragedy that ends with the death of a character who was a victim of his weakness and surroundings. He was lured into a false sense of security by the ghost telling him that he would come to power, only to be deceived by his wife and her tricky ways. We get to witness a good character go bad and eventually somewhat insane. I actually liked Mifune's character, even though he did some terrible things. In the end, though, when his own archers turn against him, Mifune's character is brought down dramatically (which would be expected in Noh theater). His bad acts, in a karmic sense, caught up with him and all of his lust for power was all for nothing as he died as a result of it. Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. I think Mifune is a fantastic actor and Kurosawa is always at his best. The story was tragic and haunting, but perfectly adapted from Shakespeare to Japan.