Throne of Blood

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Throne of Blood ★★★★ Kumonosujo, Kumonosudjo; Cobweb Castle; The Castle of the Spider's Web 1957

Kurosawa's masterful adaptation of “Macbeth” transports the story to medieval Japan and the world of the samurai. Mifune and Chiaki are warriors who have put down a rebellion and are to be rewarded by their overlord. On their way to his castle they meet a mysterious old woman who prophesizes that Mifune will soon rule—but his reign will be short. She is dismissed as crazy but her prophesies come to pass. So steeped in Japanese style that it bears little resemblance to the Shakespearean original, this film is an incredibly detailed vision in its own right. In Japanese with English subtitles. 105m/B VHS, DVD . JP Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki, Akira Kubo; D: Akira Kurosawa; W: Hideo Oguni, Shinobu Hashimoto, Ryuzo Kikushima, Akira Kurosawa; C: Asakazu Nakai; M: Masaru Sato.