Throne of Blood,
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
1957
The New Yorker Film critic Pauline Kael called Throne of Blood;
“A virtuoso exercise and extolled Kurosawa's expert use of violence, decor, pageantry and costume.”
Cited from the web site for the San Francisco Film festival
Akira Kurosawa is not only one of Japan’s great auteurs, but one of the world’s great directors.
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| Akira Kurosawa |
Throne of Blood
proves that not only was
Kurosawa a great director
BUT he was a bold SOB to boot!
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| Akira Kurosawa |
Throne of Blood is considered to be one of the best adaptations of Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth set to film.
Kurosawa places his version in feudal Japan, using not only traditional Japanese storytelling art forms- Nor Theater style, and Japanese battle art- but mixes various forms of moviemaking that makes Blood much more than just an adaptation of Macbeth, but really making Macbeth just one part of Throne of Blood
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| Throne of Blood |
As with most of Kurosawa films, much like his favorite American director John Ford, he lets the power of the story push the plot but his godlike eye with a camera set the stage in an astonishing synthesis of moviemaking. Which btw- might be why some critics are negative towards Kurosawa, he is considered to be the most western style director of the Japanese directors, making his films not Japanese. I don’t know about that- maybe it is true, he certainly follows a semi Hollywood linear style of making movies, although some of his films seem to be edited in a more non-linear style that’s distinctly not Western, I sure as heck don’t know the answer! But thru my western eyes Kurosawa is a master storyteller, and folks be prepared to see a few more of his films on this list!
Throne of Blood video exhibit
What other Kurosawa movies will make your list?
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