Rick Shingler">
Psycho Drive-In logo
Search
  • PDI Press
    Featured
    • ON SALE NOW! NOIRLATHOTEP 2: MORE TALES OF LOVECRAFTIAN CRIME!!

      Rick Shingler
      December 31, 2018
      News, PDI Press, PDI Press Catalog
    Recent
    • ON SALE NOW! NOIRLATHOTEP 2: MORE TALES OF LOVECRAFTIAN CRIME!!

      psychodr
      December 31, 2018
    • VOICES FROM THE NIGHT: The Living Dead Tell Their Stories

      John E. Meredith
      October 31, 2018
    • American Carnage: Tales of Trumpian Dystopia

      psychodr
      March 24, 2018
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-D
    • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Anything Joes
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Cahiers du Horror
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • Dungeons & D-Listers
  • Columns F-S
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
    • Schlock & Awe
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
  • Columns U-Z
    • Unnatural Selections
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews
    Featured
    • Promising Young Woman (2020)

      Rick Shingler
      January 1, 2021
      Movies, Reviews
    Recent
    • Promising Young Woman (2020)

      Nate Zoebl
      January 1, 2021
    • Possessor: Uncut (2020)

      Paul Brian McCoy
      December 31, 2020
    • Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

      Nate Zoebl
      December 24, 2020
    • Books
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews
    Featured
    • Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

      Rick Shingler
      July 13, 2018
      Interviews
    Recent
    • Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

      Dory Hoffman
      July 13, 2018
    • David Black: Carnies, Carnage, and the Creative Chaos of Darkness Visible

      Dan Lee
      March 7, 2017
    • Jaiden Kaine joins the Marvel Universe as new Luke Cage baddie, Zip

      Andre Lamar
      September 29, 2016
    • SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Batman: The Killing Joke

      Jason Sacks
      July 28, 2016
    • SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Syfy’s Van Helsing

      Dave Hearn, Paul Brian McCoy
      July 27, 2016
    • Wondercon Interview: The Cast of Damien

      Gary Richardson, Laura Akers
      April 16, 2016
  • News
    Featured
    • John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum arrives on Digital 8/23 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand 9/10

      Rick Shingler
      July 30, 2019
      DVD/Blu-ray, News
    Recent
    • John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum arrives on Digital 8/23 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand 9/10

      psychodr
      July 30, 2019
    • X-Men: Dark Phoenix arrives on Digital 9/3 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD 9/17

      Paul Brian McCoy
      July 16, 2019
    • Avengers: Endgame arrives on Digital 7/30 and Blu-ray 8/13

      psychodr
      July 16, 2019
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Merchandise
Breaking
  • Promising Young Woman (2020)
  • Possessor: Uncut (2020)
  • Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
  • Tenet (2020)
  • I’m Your Woman (2020)
  • Westworld Season 3: The New World Blu-ray
  • RSS
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Who We Be
  • Contact
  • PDI Press
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-D
    • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Anything Joes
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Cahiers du Horror
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • Dungeons & D-Listers
  • Columns F-S
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
    • Schlock & Awe
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
  • Columns U-Z
    • Unnatural Selections
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews
    • Books
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Merchandise
Home
Movies

Throne of Blood (1957)

Rick Shingler
December 13, 2015
Movies, Reviews, Shakespeare on Film

I’m the first to admit that my two semesters of Japanese in college have left me with little more than the ability to say hello, count to five, order a beer, thanks (for the beer), and inquire about the location of the men’s room. Come to think of it, that’s probably just about all I really need to survive a trip to Tokyo. That said I’m quite positive that if there is a Japanese word that would translate into English as “migraine-level intensity,” that word would most assuredly be “Mifune.”

throne-of-blood-01

Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood was released in 1957. This was a couple of years after Seven Samurai and one year prior to The Hidden Fortress, so this was a film by a director at the absolute top of his game. Its title upon opening was Komunoso-jo, which translates to something like “The Castle of the Spider’s Web” or “Spider-Web Castle.” While the story is based upon Shakespeare’s drama Macbeth, calling this film an adaptation nearly belittles it somehow. Throne of Blood shines more in its role as a perfectly-honed period piece, recreating the constant swing of power and ambition in Feudal Japan. As if to further deepen this film’s ties to its historical roots, Kurosawa chose to tell the story partially in the tradition of Noh theatre. It’s a film that proves that the stories told in Shakespeare endure more because of the way they tap into the common denominators, both good and ill, that unify all of humanity. The story of Lord and Lady Macbeth can take place in Feudal Japan just as easily as Elizabethan Scotland because ambition and men doing dumb things to impress or appease women are two of the universal stories seen from the earliest days of history to the present, from one end of the Earth to the other.

The production is epic, the scale grand. When Kurosawa realized that building a studio set castle just wouldn’t offer the verisimilitude he hoped to achieve, he built a castle on a section of Mt. Fuji. He liked the way the fog looked on Fuji, and knew he would never quite be able to recreate it on a studio set. As one watches the film, the fog truly does become a character of its own. It wraps and swirls itself around the set to create perfect frames from beginning to end, diligently revealing or obscuring set pieces, actors, and armies with unerring precision. The castle’s construction was accomplished only with the aid of a group of US Marines who were stationed nearby. Its hasty construction in no way detracted from its effectiveness. In fact, it was perhaps all the more convincing for its rudimentary design.

throne-of-blood-04

But, everything else aside, this is an actor’s film. There is nary a weak link in the cast, and Kurosawa employs all of his directorial wiles to eke out the very best of performances from all involved. The tower guards laze through the night watch, jovially gossiping about the nobility. A husband and his wife commit cold conspiracy in the privacy of their stark chambers. A son helps plan the betrayal of his father’s best friend. And through it all, there is Toshiro Mifune and his degenerating, guilt-ridden, regretfully ambitious scowl.

This is Mifune’s movie every bit as much as it is Kurosawa’s. It’s hard to imagine maintaining the level of intensity he delivers without needing a pile of headache pills. He goes from skepticism to obeisance to mystified terror to conspiratorial ruthlessness to bereft-conscience defensiveness to betrayed surprise in an hour and a half. And that death scene! It is the emotional culmination of everything that has come before. To be fair, Kurosawa lent some aid to his lead actor for the death scene. Actual archers carefully choreographed volleys of arrows with Mifune’s stumbling death-throes. Those are real arrows hitting the wall of the fortress around the actor. Resultantly, that is real terror on the actor’s face. This dangerous bit of verite probably wouldn’t fly with SAG today. But then, the level of intensity seen in this film is a rarity in the history of cinema.

throne-of-blood-03

This is adaptation at its very finest. In no way tied to its source material, it stands entirely upon its own merits. The result is an independent entity that enigmatically deepens one’s appreciation for the original play. Only the very strongest of stories can stand up to non-traditional adaptation, and it is a credit to Shakespeare that his study of ambition and guilt can withstand such a diverse variation. Just as much is it a credit to the mastery of Akira Kurosawa that he could steer such a successful transformation.

APPIP ERROR: amazonproducts[
AccessDeniedAwsUsers|The Access Key Id AKIAIIK4RQAHE2XK6RNA is not enabled for accessing this version of Product Advertising API. Please migrate your credentials as referred here https://webservices.amazon.com/paapi5/documentation/migrating-your-product-advertising-api-account-from-your-aws-account.html.
]
(Visited 176 times, 1 visits today)

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Share on Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Akira KurosawaRick ShinglerShakespeareShakespeare on FilmThrone of BloodToshiro Mifune

Popcorn Cinema: Krampus (2015)
Jessica Jones 1.13 “AKA Smile”

About The Author

monsterid
Rick Shingler

This guy builds worlds with words and whiskey.  He has contributed to PDI Press’ first two Noirlanthotep anthologies as well as the punk rock dystopian short story collection American Carnage.   He has authored The Perilous Journeys of Pericles, a misbegotten science fiction adaptation of a misbegotten Shakespeare play (available on Amazon for Kindle).  He is currently pulling his hair out over a novel that just never seems to get any closer to completion.  He lives in Jersey, but is usually only willing to admit it when the conversation turns to pizza and/or access to great record shops. If you buy him a couple of drinks, he’ll show you his irredeemably nerdy tattoo.

FACEBOOK

FACEBOOK

Daily Top Ten

  • Dungeons & D-Listers: Barbarian Queen (1985)Dungeons & D-Listers: Barbarian Queen (1985) by Alex Wolfe

PDI Press Bestsellers

Entertainment Earth

Weekly Top Ten

  • Dungeons & D-Listers: Barbarian Queen (1985)Dungeons & D-Listers: Barbarian Queen (1985) by Alex Wolfe
  • Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! – Apocalypse MaleFaster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! – Apocalypse Male by Paul Brian McCoy
  • Advance Review: The Legend of Tarzan (2016) Blu-rayAdvance Review: The Legend of Tarzan (2016) Blu-ray by Paul Brian McCoy
  • If It Ain't Funk He Don't Feel It: Howard the Duck (1986)If It Ain’t Funk He Don’t Feel It:… by Paul Brian McCoy
  • The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010)The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by The Final Girl
  • Drive-In Saturday: Heavy Metal 2000 (2000)Drive-In Saturday: Heavy Metal 2000 (2000) by Alex Wolfe
  • Sick Flix: Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)Sick Flix: Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) by Corin Totin
  • The Searchers: A Quaint and Polite Film about Racism, Rape, and RemorseThe Searchers: A Quaint and Polite Film about… by Thom V. Young
  • Unnatural Selections: Two-Headed Shark Attack (2012)Unnatural Selections: Two-Headed Shark Attack (2012) by Brooke Brewer
  • EZMM 2018 Day 5: Wyrmwood – Road of the Dead (2014)EZMM 2018 Day 5: Wyrmwood – Road of the Dead (2014) by Paul Brian McCoy
Entertainment Earth

Latest Reviews

  • Promising Young Woman (2020)

    Nate Zoebl
    January 1, 2021
  • Possessor: Uncut (2020)

    Paul Brian McCoy
    December 31, 2020
  • Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

    Nate Zoebl
    December 24, 2020

Latest Columns

  • Lost in Translation 371: Spitting Image

    Scott Delahunt
    January 15, 2021
  • Anything Joes: Unboxing: Symbiote Studios 12″ G.I. Joe Plush Cobra Commander & Snake Eyes

    Greg Engle
    January 13, 2021
  • Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! – Apocalypse Male

    Paul Brian McCoy
    January 9, 2021

INSTAGRAM

psychodrivein

Psycho Drive-In
Today at http://psychodrivein.com In Memoriam: Si Today at http://psychodrivein.com

In Memoriam: Sir Sean Connery (1930-2020)

But without further ado, here are some of our favorite performances by the late, great Sir Sean Connery.
---
Read more of our tribute at the link in our profile!

#Marnie #RobinAndMarian #Outland #TimeBandits #TheUntouchables #IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade #FindingForrester #SeanConnery #JamesBond #SirSeanConnery #Zardoz
Today at http://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transla Today at http://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 362: Remaking Airwolf

The pilot could be used with the same beats, with String holding Airwolf as collateral to force the Firm to find St-John. 
---
Read more of Scott's article at the link in our profile!

#LostInTranslation #Airwolf
Today at http://psychodrivein.com In Memoriam: Al Today at http://psychodrivein.com

In Memoriam: Alex Trebek

Trebek seemed to have a good sense of humor and did not shy away from poking fun at himself. 
---
Read more of Jessica's tribute to Trebek at the link in our profile!

#AlexTrebek #Jeopardy #PepperAnn #Rugrats #FamilyGuy #MamasFamily #TheGoldenGirls #TheXFiles
Today at http://psychodrivein.com The Best of The Today at http://psychodrivein.com

The Best of The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror Episodes

The Simpsons’ Halloween Specials/Treehouse of Horror episodes are some of the best episodes of the show.
---
Read more of Jessica's list at the link in our profile!

#TheSimpsons #TheSimpsonsHalloweenSpecial #TreehouseOfHorror #31DaysOfHalloween #31DaysOfHalloween2020
Today at http://psychodrivein.com The Psycho Driv Today at http://psychodrivein.com

The Psycho Drive-In Halloween Party Playlist

For your Halloween enjoyment, here are 161 songs - around 10 hours of music for you - cultivated by the Psychos here at the Drive-In!
---
Listen to the Psycho Drive-In Halloween Party Playlist at the link in our profile!

#Halloween #HalloweenPartyPlaylist #Playlist #Music #Spotify
Today at http://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transla Today at http://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 361: Bean the Movie

The plot is simple enough; Mr. Bean has to accompany the painting, Whistler’s Mother, from the Royal National Gallery in London to its new home at the Grierson Art Gallery. 
---
Read more of Scott's article at the link in our profile!

#LostInTranslation #BeanTheMovie #MrBean #RowanAtkinson #PeterMacNicol
Today at http://psychodrivein.com Pegg and Frost Today at http://psychodrivein.com

Pegg and Frost Return in Time for Halloween: Truth Seekers

It is an unexpected treat this Halloween season that Frost is in Truth Seekers, a Prime series dropping a first season of eight episodes on October 30.
---
Read more of Mike's article at the link in our profile!

#TruthSeekers #SimonPegg #NickFrost #SusanWokoma #JulianBarrett #MalcolmMcDowell
Today at http://psychodrivein.com The Existential Today at http://psychodrivein.com

The Existential Horror of Charles Burns’ Last Look Trilogy 

Last Look tells the story of pretentious art school loser and punk rock scene hanger-on, Doug, as we weave our way through his memories and dreams.
---
Read more of Paul's recommendation at the link in our profile!

#CharlesBurns #LastLook #XedOut #TheHive #SugarSkull #BlackHole #GraphicNovel #31DaysOfHorror #31DaysOfHorror2020 #Halloween
Today at http://psychodrivein.com How That Thing Today at http://psychodrivein.com

How That Thing Ended Up on my Porch: Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated

Underneath all the monsters and mayhem in Mystery Incorporated, the core of the show is the sometimes irrational love we have for the animals in our lives.
---
Read more of Mike's article at the link in our profile!

#ScoobyDoo #ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated #MysteryIncorporated #UdoKier #HarlanEllison #JeffreyCombs #31DaysOfHalloween #31DaysOfHalloween2020 #Halloween
Today at http://psychodrivein.com Nosferatu (1979 Today at http://psychodrivein.com

Nosferatu (1979)

With Nosferatu, Herzog isn’t interested in crafting a horror film with easy scares. 
---
Read more of Peterson's article at the link in our profile!

#Nosferatu #Nosferatu1979 #WernerHerzog #KlausKinski #IsabelleAdjani #31DaysOfHalloween #31DaysOfHalloween2020 #Halloween #Vampire
Today at http://psychodrivein.com Terrifies, Horr Today at http://psychodrivein.com

Terrifies, Horrifies, Forever Scares—Roky Erickson and the Return of the Living Dead

Like many others, possibly even you, I first heard Roky Erickson’s music in Return of the Living Dead (1985). 
---
Read more of Fred's article at the link in our profile!

#RokyErickson #BurnTheFlames #ReturnOfTheLivingDead #31DaysOfHalloween #31DaysOfHalloween2020 #Halloween #TwoHeadedDog #2HeadedDog
Today at http://psychodrivein.com Stay Alive (200 Today at http://psychodrivein.com

Stay Alive (2006)

Being listed as “Disney’s only slasher film,” my interest in Stay Alive was definitely piqued.
---
Read more of Jessica's review at the link in our profile!

#StayAlive #31DaysOfHalloween #31DaysOfHalloween2020 #Halloween #JimmiSimpson #FrankieMuniz #JonFoster #SamaireArmstrong #CountessElizabethBathory #VideoGame #Slasher #Disney
Follow on Instagram
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: API requests are being delayed for this account. New posts will not be retrieved.

Log in as an administrator and view the Instagram Feed settings page for more details.

TWITTER

My Tweets

Look Who's Talking

Amari Wolfe
Amari Wolfe - 12/11/2020
Popcorn Cinema: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)
Don't know why, but the mention of Whammo Air Blasters made me laugh until it hurt. Very nicely...
mega leo
mega leo - 12/5/2020
Women in Horror: I Spit on Your Grave (2010)
To torture someone takes a cold kind of sadism. One that exceeds rage or revenge. One that shows a...
Dignan
Dignan - 10/29/2020
Nosferatu (1979)
Thanks for that, I can never seem to nail down that movie!
RSSTwitterFacebookinstagramtumblr

Archives

Large_rectangle_336X280
All work on this site is Copyright © each individual writer.
  • PDI Press
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-D
    • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Anything Joes
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Cahiers du Horror
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • Dungeons & D-Listers
  • Columns F-S
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
    • Schlock & Awe
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
  • Columns U-Z
    • Unnatural Selections
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews
    • Books
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Merchandise
%d bloggers like this: