By Jesse Wagner
Throne of Blood (1957)
Akira Kurosawa
Set in Feudal Japan
Characters
Macbeth = Washizu
Lady Macbeth = Asaji
Three Witches = The Forest Spirit
King Duncan = Lord Tsuzuki
Banquo = Miki
Agency
Who is controlling the action?
Potential Agents:
Macbeth
Lady Macbeth
Supernatural powers (The Three Witches)
Agency
Shakespeare doesn’t answer the question
But most of the films do
The Witches’ Prophesy
“Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and King hereafter”
Readers of the play have access to knowledge that Macbeth does not have.
While this series of events convinces Macbeth of the witches’ powers, we
are not convinced.
Throne of Blood interprets the action of the play as fated, and controlled by
the Forest Spirit, so Kurosawa uses this scene to increase the spirit’s
credibility in the eyes of the viewer.
The Forest Spirit’s Song
http://fan.tcm.com/_Throne-Of-Blood-The-Spirit39sProphecy/video/1483895/66470.html
The Forest Spirit’s Song
The wheels
Karma
The dangers of not shedding our attachment to this world
Works Cited
Dawson, Anthony. “Cross-Cultural Interpretation: Reading
Kurosawa/Reading Shakespeare.” A Concise Companion to
Shakespeare on Screen. Ed. Diana E. Henderson. Malden:
Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2006. 155-75. Print.
Encyclopedia of Buddhism. New York: Macmillan Reference, 2004. Print.
Jorgens, Jack. “Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood: Washizu and Miki Meet the
Forest Spirit”. Literature Film Quarterly. 11.3 (1983): 167-73.
Online.
Prince, Stephen. “Experiments and Adaptations” The Warrior’s Camera:
The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton UP,
1991. 114-54. Print.