When this ran a couple years ago, I wrote, “Akira Kurosawa’s first brush with William Shakespeare, an adaptation of Macbeth aptly named Throne of Blood (1957), is one of the filmmaker’s finest films — and one of the few instances of plot-driven Shakespeare that actually works. Perhaps it’s because Macbeth has a stronger plot than many of Shakespeare’s plays, or perhaps it’s because Kurosawa opted to reject the poetry and simply go with the story and the atmosphere. It is certainly not lacking in atmosphere — and, in fact, has a feel that is comparable to Orson Welles’ 1948 Macbeth, although achieved quite differently.” Full review: http://avl.mx/ka
My friend and I are big fans of Japanese cinema, particuarly Kurosawa. We tried watching this one on Sunday and couldn’t make it through it. I think the pacing of it is way too slow.
We tried watching this one on Sunday and couldn’t make it through it. I think the pacing of it is way too slow.
I love the movie, but I can understand this reaction. It strikes me as one of Kurosawa’s most willfully alienating films. (Ran is another, so maybe that’s simply how he preferred to approach Shakespeare? On the other hand, The Bad Sleep Well is relatively more conventional.) However, the oppressive weirdness of the film strikes me as appropriate and incredibly powerful.
I think Macbeth is fundamentally cyclical and, despite its psychological complexity, kind of emotionally remote. It doesn’t have character arcs as such; the protagonists are just gradually shorn of their humanity. I like Macbeth as he’s depicted in Throne of Blood and in Polanski’s Tragedy of Macbeth: as someone whose eloquence is merely a kind of self-hypnosis to justify his sociopathy.
The interesting thing to me is I understand the movie being off-putting, but I’ve never found it especially slow.