Karma Repaid! | THRONE OF BLOOD (1957) | Movie Reaction

[@Dej24601]

Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” has been set in so many different cultures, time periods and focused on various sub-themes. This is a powerful version.

[@zvimur]

If Ran were described as an oil painting, Throne of Blood is one made either with Charcoal or Ink.

[@TTM9691]

It's going to be great seeing this so close to watching Welles' "Macbeth"! ((That's his next film after "The Stranger"!) Love both films, I think both directors did some of the very best Shakespeare adaptations on film.

[@larindanomikos]

Ohhh... Kurosawa's Macbeth. Two treats in one! I have been collecting different versions of Macbeth. You have reminded me that I need this one.

[@AceMoonshot]

Personally, I believe Akira could have made great films in any genre. But I'm glad he did some of the works of Shakespeare. Not to dismiss the efforts of others who have tried to bring the The Bard's plays to the screen. But Akira's are some of my favorites. Oh, and the arrow scene has become legend at this point. Great reaction Henry. I envy you getting to watch all these great films for the first time. I wish I could go back in time and watch them for the first time again.

[@henryellow]

I feel the same way for some movies I watched before starting this YT channel 😂

[@i2su405]

love seeing you get more into kurosawa. Akira is my favourite director and Toshiro is my favourite actor, thanks for the video.

[@kevind4850]

_Ran_ (1985) is the companion Kurosawa classic. It was based upon Shakespeare's _King_ _Lear_ with some variations, as in this film. It contains some of the most beautiful, stylized battle scenes on film.

[@henryellow]

Ran (1985) is in my queue, though it'll take some time to get to it 😊👍🏻

[@Dej24601]

“The famous arrow scene near the end was, in fact, done with real arrows. That is, the arrows hitting the wooden planks were not done with special effects, but rather choreographed with archers. Toshirô Mifune waves his arms to brush away the arrows sticking from the planks, indicating to them that he wanted to go in that particular direction. The real arrows were included to get Mifune's facial expressions of real-life fear, which is exceptionally hard to imitate. Of course, the arrows that hit the Mifune character were bamboo fakes.”

[@henryellow]

To put your life on the line for a movie scene. That's dedication. The archers were amazing too 👏🏻👏🏻

[@Dej24601]

@@henryellow Mifune is one of those once-in-a-lifetime superstars. I love him in Yojimbo and his final collaboration with Kurosawa - Red Beard.

[@Dej24601]

“The film combines Shakespeare's play with the Noh style of drama. Akira Kurosawa was an admirer of Noh, which he preferred over Kabuki. In particular, he wished to incorporate Noh-style body movements and set design. Noh also makes use of masks, and the evil spirit is seen, in different parts of the film, wearing faces reminiscent of these masks, starting with yaseonna (old lady). Noh often stresses the Buddhist doctrine of impermanence. This is connected to Washizu being denied salvation, with the chorus singing that his ghost is still in the world. The film score's use of flute and drum are also drawn from Noh.”

[@TTM9691]

Fantastic commentary, as always. I can't believe I just saw a reaction to Throne Of Blood! :D

[@lukebarton5075]

Nice. Probably my second favourite of Kurosawa’s Shakespeare films. Very much looking forward to more.

[@AceMoonshot]

Same here. Ran is my favorite. The Bad Sleep Well was a good movie but the third act could have been stronger imho. But I confess it is entirely possible if I were a Japanese sitting in the theater watching it, I'd feel otherwise.

[@masudashizue777]

I spend some 18 years translating Japanese films and television programs into English but I must say the translation in Throne of Blood is topnotch.

[@AceMoonshot]

Was it Janus/Criterion? They always seems to work extra hard to get translations correct.

[@henryellow]

I can't remember where I got the subtitles from, but it's good to know that the translation is accurate. I wouldn't even realize if it was wrong... 😂

[@ink-cow]

Most of those arrows were real. Toshiro Mifune had to be very careful and not make any surprise moves while the expert archers shot around him. This is Shakespeare's Macbeth, retold in Japan. As in this retelling, Lady Macbeth urged on the tragedy. Macbeth met three witches in the forest, which is probably why there's a trope of witches always hanging out in threes.

[@AceMoonshot]

I always assumed the witches coming in three was based on The Norns. They gave predictions that shaped the destinies of men, much like the Wyrd Sisters of Shakespeare. But to be fair, that is my assumption.

[@ink-cow]

@@AceMoonshot Oh, I've never heard of the Norns! That may be where Shakespeare got it from. It was a random thought anyway, as I've seen the Macbeth witches often parodied.

[@henryellow]

That's a lot of trust Mifune had in those archers. Just one wrong shot... 🏹🎯💀

[@ink-cow]

@@henryellow Going a little bit by memory, iirc they had worked out some signals. Mifune would indicate he's moving THIS way, so the archers would shoot THAT way. That fear in his face might have been real. 😄

[@donkfail1]

Wow! Sometimes I think you can read my mind when picking the right movies. Now I think you are spying on me too. I thought of watching this a couple of days ago and my DVD copy is still lying around. I've seen it a few times, so watching your reaction is probably more fun. My favourite adaptation of Macbeth, and perhaps the best Shakespeare adaptation overall. It just fits better in feudal Japan than it's original setting in my opinion.

[@donkfail1]

I think the spookiness of Miki's ghost is so much more effective when it's not necessarily a real ghost, but perhaps just a symptom of Washizu's mental decay. I've mentioned this before; a really scary ghost scene that scared me stiff as a child is one in the 1933 Fritz Lang movie The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse). I bet it will give you goosebumps as well. I wouldn't be surprised if the spirit of the forest and Miki's ghost was inspired by the Mabuse ghost.

[@AceMoonshot]

Those eyes were quite unsettling.

[@henryellow]

It's the combination of Washizu's reaction and Miki's white ghost that gives me goosebumps... 😨 Oh, The Testament of Dr Mabuse is actually on my Patreon Special queue! 👍🏻

[@mikecaetano]

MACBETH "Till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane, \ I cannot taint with fear." I wonder if the Japanese translations used in the film preserved the sense of poetry in the lines. Japanese ghost stories operate differently than British ghost stories. Add Ugetsu Monogatari (1953) to your list of great films to watch, if you haven't already, for another example of a Japanese ghost story. Kenji Mizoguchi director.

[@AceMoonshot]

I have often wondered about that. The beauty of Shakespeare is the wordcrafting more than the story. My favorite part, aside from 'something wicked this way comes,' is at the end. "I will not yield, To kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet, And to be baited with the rabble's curse. Though Birnam wood be come to Dunsinane, And thou opposed, being of no woman born, Yet I will try the last. Before my body I throw my warlike shield. Lay on, Macduff, And damn'd be him that first cries, 'Hold, enough!' I love that whole exchange. Which is even better when spoken to the tempo of clashing swords... But this version omits all of that. And I would normally be mightily disappointed. But that arrow scene is just so damned epic.

[@henryellow]

Sure, I'll add Ugetsu Monogatari to my list. Thanks for your suggestion! 😊 Throne of Blood's "wordcrafting" might be the scene where the spirit tells him to reach the pinnacle of evil, build a mountain of corpses, let flow a river of blood, etc. I can't be sure if it's considered poetry or something like that.

[@longfootbuddy]

how can you ask why he would marry her, just look at her.. spooktacular

[@henryellow]

Spooktacular indeed. When she said she was pregnant, I even wondered if she would give birth to an evil spirit.

[@longfootbuddy]

@@henryellow i think my favorite scene of her though, is when shes trying to wash the blood off her hands, and when he pulls the bowl away, she continues to try to wash her hands in it.. stuff like that is just great

[@henryellow]

Oh yeah, I agree. That was her best scene 👍🏻😱