Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Throne of Blood (1957)


IMDb plot summary: A war-hardened general, egged on by his ambitious wife, works to fulfill a prophecy that he would become lord of Spider's Web Castle.
Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Starring Toshirô Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Takashi Shimura and Akira Kubo.

Oh, Kurosawa, how I enjoy you. I'd put most of his movies on a list of easily-accessible foreign classics ever, and every time I watch a new movie of his I'm amazed by how easy it is to get swept away by the story. Of course, this is a familiar one to me -- the story of Macbeth. Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's shortest plays, and attempting to stretch the story out into a full 2-hour runtime can sometimes get a little bit slow, especially in the middle, but Kurosawa more than makes up for it with the energetic ending. Washizu's demise is truly satisfying, and the famous hand-washing scene is haunting. I haven't seen a Kurosawa film I've disliked yet, and this is no exception. 4 stars.

Flickchart: #556 out of 2039, below Homeward Bound and above White Heat.

Rent on Amazon for $2.99.

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