Rating: 
Summary: Great adaptation of Shakespeare's "Macbeth"!!
Review: With fierce samurai warriors clad in heavy metal armor and ebony haired ladies in kimonos, gThrone of Bloodh offers everything that one would expect from a historical Japanese film, yet, its uniqueness lies in the fact that this is veteran director Kurosawafs adaptation of William Shakespearefs master epic gMacbeth.h As a highschool student attending Nagoya International School in Japan, I found this odd mix of Shakespearean literature and ancient Japanese culture quite fitting. This film portrays a warrior Washizu (Macbeth) and his ambition to be the Lord of Cobweb Forest Castle led by his manipulative wife, Asaji (Lady Macbeth). The scene change from Europe to ancient Japan does not affect the main ideas or the plot of the original Macbeth. The infamous scenes where Lady Macbeth (Asaji) is washing her hands and the banquet scene with the ghost of Banquo (Miki) are still there. The lack of Shakespearean language is well substituted by the old Japanese language (which even a fluent Japanese speaker as myself could not fully understand.) The cinematographic effects spice up this black and white film. What I found most stunningly significant was Kurosawafs use of weather. There is rain, lightening, sand storms, and fogs. The uses of these weather elements bring out a dark and creepy image of the overall story that is shared with the original gMacbethh. Also, this movie has some other cinematographic effects that only a black and white film can bring out. Evil and good, supernatural and natural are brought out by the salient contrast of black and white. For example, the witch of Cobweb Forest is surrounded by white smog and fully clad in white, which is most striking against the black, murky forest. Toshirou Mifune (Washizu) gives a tour-de-force performance as the Japanese Macbeth; his facial expressions, large movements, and voice most appropriately conveys the turmoil and ambition that Macbeth was faced with has he struggled to reach to the top. Although this movie may seem gtoo oldh and uninteresting to some, it has been a self-broadening experience for me, for it has exceeded all of my expectations from a black and white movie and given me a whole different view of Shakespearefs gMacbeth.h gThrone of Bloodh may not exactly be gfun for the whole family!h but it is a classic worth watching.
Rating:
Summary: Scottish Japanese
Review: My name is Towa and I am a student at Nagoya International School. I read Macbeth for English class and saw the movie Throne of Blood afterwards. This Kurosawa version of Macbeth was a powerful piece. Although it lacks artistic Shakespearean language, Kurosawafs choice of deliberately using black and white, and the characterfs extreme expressions bring out the meaning and images of the story. It is very interesting how Kurosawa emulated Macbethfs Scottish culture with his own culture, Japan. For example, the title Thane of Cawdor is replaced with the title Lord of the North Castle. Throne of Blood is a great movie where viewers can enjoy the storyline of Macbeth and also enjoy Kurosawafs cleverness by comparing Scottish and Japanese culture.
Rating:
Summary: A tour-de-force of Kurosawa's visual skill
Review: I once heard Kurosawa was an avid fan of ancient Japanese theater. One element of this school is the idea of capturing a pose that will amaze and astound the audience. Such poses or shots can be seen in many of Kurosawa's works (the descent of the Lord through the mix of yellow and red soldiers in "Ran" for instance), but perhaps never are they more apparent than in this movie, which plays out like a recorded Japanese play (although certainly with better directing than PBS' recorded theater!).Many shots leave you at first thinking, "Yeah yeah move on" but once their purpose is revealed you reap sweet rewards. For example, the opening scene opens on to a thick fog. It stays that way for several seconds and then suddenly the fog moves away, and slowly we are shown Cobweb Castle, the main setting for the story. The other amazing shots are perhaps the descent of the allied armies into Cobweb Forest, Washizu (the main character) pursuing the demon spirit through the forest, and finally the climax of the "Macbeth" story...Cobweb Forest actually moving on the castle! The Shakespearean play is adapted well. Lady Macbeth (Washizu's wife) doesn't go insane until near the end, but it is only one of a conglomeration of bad instances leading to Washizu's ultimate self-destruction. Also, the three witches are replaced by a demon forest spirit, giving a true Japanese mythical feel. If you're a fan of Akira Kurosawa or you like this type of film-making, definately check this film out at least once.
Rating:
Summary: Macbeth goes Japan
Review: My name is Simo and I'm a high-school student in Nagoya International School, Japan. I watched different movies based on Shakespeare's Macbeth play, Roman Polanski's version which settings are close to the book version. BBC has made a play which is placed in the 90's and it tells about the Scottish civil war. Finally I watched Akira Kurosawa's film Thorne of blood, which is settled in Samurai era in Japan. Polanski's and BBC's Macbeths follow the book quite accurately while Thorne of blood is much looser. Thorne of blood has the basic story line of the book but there is lots of differences and some details are adjusted to Japanese society and culture, for example; witches in Macbeth are changed to evil spirits because there are no witches in Japanese culture. In Macbeth there are three prophecies about Macbeth's death but in the Thorne of blood there are only two; the prophecy about killer who is not a women born is missing from Thorne of blood. Kurosawa is a master in cinematography and he uses camera perfectly. The movie has quite slow rhythm because it has lots of long shots, the BBC's Macbeth is more modern and it has faster rhythm because shots are shorter and there are more fast cuts than in Thorne of blood. Personally I liked the movie and I think that it is the best of the three movies that I have been talking about in this review.
Rating:
Summary: Throne of Clud
Review: In some ways, this is pure Kurosawa. It thunders with images of primordial power, it's cinema as tornado.
However, dramatically Kurosawa moves away from the individual-centered humanism of his earlier works and serves up a formalist
vision of man seduced and doomed by powerlust. If earlier Kurosawa films explored and stressed the power of the individual to change his fate and society, Throne of Blood, based on Shake's tragedy Macbeth, is about man doomed to relive endless cycles of greed and self-destruction, a theme Kurosawa would repeat on an even grander style in the somewhat bloated Ran.
Yet, Throne is Blood is no simple also-ran, but a movie of great eloquence and ferocity, Shake's theme rendered(perhaps reduced)to a primal dance.
Mifune, a wild actor, is somewhat limited for this kind of stylized role but the ferocity restrained within rigidity somehow intensifies the suppressed animal passion at the core of the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Reviewing "Throne of Blood"
Review: My name is Amy and I am a student at Nagoya International School in Japan. I watched Kurosawa's "Throne of Blood" in my English class a few weeks ago, and prior to watching that I saw many different versions of Macbeth including Polanski's version. I believe that in this adaptation of Macbeth, the actor who played Washizu, did an excellent job of portraying an extremely doubtful man prior to killing the king (or lord in this case). Kurosawa did a great job in showing how Asaji was the main drive behind the murder of the king, that without her, it's doubtful that Washizu would have ever followed through with the murder. Also in that scene, Asaji discusses "ambition", the exact word which is used in the original play, "Macbeth". I believe that ambition is an extremely important theme in Macbeth and it was wise for Kurosawa to use it. Although "Throne of Blood" was a very different style than the original "Macbeth" play, I think that Kurosawa changed it enough to make it very interesting compared to the other versions, yet he kept many important themes, which were necessary to keep the original story alive.
Rating:
Summary: Samurai Macbeth
Review: I am a student of NIS(nagoya international school), and I saw the 'throne of blood' during my English liturature class. I afraid that I 'm not either japanese nor american, so I thought I would not understand clearly, but since I read Macbeth, and saw some of movies Shakespeare's verson which means I know basic story of Macbeth, and fortunely there was a caption in English, so it was easy to understand. Also I afraid the languages of Shakespeare's, becuase I didn't sure that Japanese can use the magnitude languages which is used by shakespeare. As I respect, the language was not rich as much as shakespear's, but director shows some scenes of interest scenes to cover the language that couldn't translate everything of shakespeare's language. Also it was pretty interest to see the Macbeth of samurai verson. I would strongly recommend this movie for student who wants to know Macbeth's interest.
Rating: 
Summary: WHAT!? Kurosawa Macbeth!? Have we eaten on the insane root?
Review: I am a brilliant, but hallucinating student from Nagoya International School who tends to become enamored with pretty blonde young women in the Polanski Macbeth. But because I was drifting off to sleep while the Polanski version was shown, I will offer my sage observation on Kurosawa's Throne of Blood. The film intrigued me with its unusual style. The monochromatic scenes clearly illustrate the malicious atmosphere. Despite the black and white, the blood was just as obvious. The story has been successfully transplanted from Scotland to medieval Japan and tells the downfall of an ambitious warlord. The scenes are mainly shot from a low position which stresses the fact of Japanese Hierarchy. Asaji (Lady Macbeth) seems to be emotionless, this is accentuated by her thick white makeup reminiscent of Noh theater. However, Kurosawa destroy the idea of the Samurai's Bushidou, the way of the warrior. Washizu, (Macbeth) is a proud Samurai but gets destroyed by Asaji's murderous intentions. All his warriors eventually rebel as he gets assassinated by his men. The witches are converted to Mononoke, who is an evil spirit in Japanese. It is also significant that Kumonosujyo means Coweb castle and the Mononoke was spinning thread because Washizu gets caught in a web which eventually leads to his death just as a fly entrapped by a spider. From my perspective, the Throne of Blood is deep. Kurosawa was able to capture the main points of Macbeth as well as absorbing the highlights of the setting. However, if you are a Shakespearean buff, the film lacks the rich language, but this is compensated for by the eerie atmosphere created by Kurosawa.
Rating: 
Summary: The uniqueness of KUROSAWA!!!!!
Review: I am junior at Nagoya International School and have just finished studying Shakespeare$B!G(Bs Macbeth. In addition to reading it, we were fortunate to see 4 film versions of it. Of all the films, Kurosawa$B!G(Bs $B!H(BThrone of Blood$B!I(B appealed to me the most because of its uniqueness. Although the film was in black and white, it created an eerie atmosphere and a vivid picture of the mood, the character and their actions. Like Shakespeare, Kurosawa uses old Japanese language, and even for us native Japanese speakers much of it was incomprehensible, especially the chant at the beginning and the end. However, the language suited the traditional feudal Japanese setting of the samurai and helped create the mood. Lady Macbeth (Asaji), her face a stark white, in $B!H(BThrone of Blood$B!I(B was very emotionless and she rarely talked; and when she did, it was slow and unclear. She was a mysterious character who said strange things which also contributed to the mood. The violence was very graphic and even though film was monochromatic, the blood stood out very clearly. The violent scenes were very realistic especially at the end when Washizu (Macbeth) is running around trying to avoid getting shot by what seems to be a million arrows. I recommend this film to any student studying Macbeth as it provides a very relevant yet unique comparison to the other versions.
Rating:
Summary: Black and White Wins!!!!!!
Review: I am a student in my 14th year at Nagoya International School. To conclude the study of Macbeth, we watched four film versions of the play: Polanski, Royal Shakespeare, English Shakespeare Company, and Kurosawa's Throne of Blood. Of all these Kurosawa's movie, "Throne of Blood" had the most impact. Although the film was in black and white and it didn't send me to sleep but provided me with lots of excitement. This is significant because even in the world filled with color, a boy living in the 21st century still felt excitement while watching a black and white movie. We could feel and see the tragedy that occurred at the castle where Lord Tsuzuki was murdered. Kurosawa used his brilliant camera techniques to show the room smeared with blood. Kurosawa also effectively created an eerie atmosphere as the fog and the mist rolled in and out of the scenes. The story also made a successful transition from Scotland to Feudal Japan and it worked so well that the movie has a place alongside the other version of Macbeth. I fully recommend this movie to anyone who wants to watch Macbeth from another perspective. SUGOI!!
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