Throne of Blood

Name: Throne of Blood
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Released: 1957-01-15T00:00:00+00:00
Rating: 7.9

1957 · TMDB 7.9 · 蜘蛛巣城

Directed by Akira Kurosawa

Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.

Why it matters

Kurosawa relocates Macbeth to feudal Japan, replacing the witches with a single eerie spirit and the climax with a hail of arrows that remains one of cinema's great endings.

From The Verse Will Outlive the Stage

Follow this film into “The Verse Will Outlive the Stage”

Toshirō Mifune Isuzu Yamada Takashi Shimura Akira Kubo Hiroshi Tachikawa Minoru Chiaki Takamaru Sasaki Gen Shimizu Kokuten Kōdō Kichijirō Ueda Eiko Miyoshi Chieko Naniwa

Director · Akira Kurosawa Producer · Akira Kurosawa Producer · Sōjirō Motoki Writer · Shinobu Hashimoto Writer · Ryuzo Kikushima Writer · Akira Kurosawa Writer · Hideo Oguni Cinematography · Asakazu Nakai Composer · Masaru Satō Editor · Akira Kurosawa

Runtime: 108 min
Released: 1957-01-15
Studio: TOHO
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
TMDB score: 7.9

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The Verse Will Outlive the Stage

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Kurosawa relocates Macbeth to feudal Japan, replacing the witches with a single eerie spirit and the climax with a hail of arrows that remains one of cinema's great endings.