Review of Throne of Blood (1957) by Chris B — 22 Feb 2014

Throne of Blood is another masterful work from the legendary duo of director Akira Kurosawa and his prominent leading man Toshiro Mifune in the role of the primary protagonist Taketoki Washizu, a commander who has a life-defining encounter with an evil spirit in the woods. Along with his childhood friend Yoshaki Miki (Minoru Chiaki) the two are given a disturbing but advantageous fortune of their coming glory and rise through the ranks. Unfortunately one of the predictions is that Miki's son will one day rule the legendary Spider Web Castle that Washizu will soon inherit first, planting suspicion and paranoia in his mind. The two eventually find their way out of the haunted Spider's Web Forrest and it's many illusions and upon meeting with their lord, Lord Tsuzuki are given the first of their promotions according to the prophecy. From then onwards the two fulfill their destinies of climbing the ranks and with Washizu's wife Asaji, played unemotionally and menacing by Isuzu Yamada, Washizu kills his lord and his wife plants the spear used on one of another general's guards and thus sets General Noriyasu (Takashi Shimura, another Kurosawa regular) to take the fall for his deed. Thus he is now Lord and shortly after inherits Spider Web Castle from Miki and eventually through his wife's bidding and his own heart's ambitions he has his friend killed and attempts to have his son killed as well to prevent the prophecy coming true, but fails and the son joins with the wronged General Noriyasu and others wronged by Washizu to overthrow him and avenge their lost loved ones. Upon meeting the evil spirit again Washizu who has been driven nearly completely out of his mind, is told that he will only fall if the very trees of Spider's Web Forest rise up to overthrow him and with this he is lulled into a false sense of invincibility and invulnerability. He rallies his men inside the castle to battle but as one of the guards warns of the trees rising up against them, everyone falls into panic, none more than Washizu. With the omen made known to all the men beforehand with it's coming true they betray the lord and shoot him down with hundred of arrows and he final succumbs to the numerous injuries before he can draw his sword. It's made known briefly after that the invading army used branches and leaves to hide in and under and make it appear within the mist that the very trees were indeed rising up against Lord Washizu.

The film itself is of course an adaptation of Macbeth but to simply leave it at that would be a grave injustice as Kurosawa seamlessly weaves an intricate story within Japan and it's history while still adhering to the story arc and characterization of the original work. The film exudes atmosphere and the misty and gloom-filled setting lends great depth to the mood of the film and it's story and one in which perfectly inhabits it's characters and their story of bloodlust and tragedy. Toshiro Mifune as usual gives a powerfully bombastic and energetic performance in the lead role and really adds power to the character and story. The themes are all there but also so distinctly Japanese and original that it really is it's own work and embodiment of Kurosawa's vision on film. What a truly great cinematic work that is a wonderful to view and a stunning work of Japanese cinema from the legend Akira Kurosawa. This certainly ranks among the legendary director's greatest masterpieces and that is among some of the very best in Japanese cinema!