Throne of Blood a.k.a. Spider's Web Castle

One of my favorite Akira Kurosawa films, Throne of Blood (with its better title Spider's Web Castle) is a Japanese version of Shakespeare's MacBeth by the brilliant Asian filmmaker. I didn't know it was a cinematic version of MacBeth until after seeing the film all the way through but the knowledge of this neither added to nor lessened my opinion of the video.

The cinematography is excellent. The camera people used zooming technology and multiple cameras so the actors didn't know which camera's take was going to make the cut. It is mostly shot on Mount Fuji but some of the scenes were shot in Tokyo with imported volcanic sand from the mountain. Because samurai didn't have uniforms in the displayed time period, many of them carried banners on their backs to display their affiliation. I think the black and white quality takes nothing away from the film itself.

I originally thought it was just a brilliant film using Japanese mythology but of course the mythology is an adaptation from Shakespeare's own conceptions. It would be possible for me to rate the film at either a 4 or a 5. However, I will give it a 5 because I liked it.