Comments on: Friday Afternoon Movie: Throne Of Blood

By: BigJonno

BigJonno — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:51:24 +0000

I actually wrote an essay on this movie when I was 15. I had to a comparitive piece for my English GCSE and we’d been looking at two different versions of Macbeth, the Polanski movie and a modern-day adaptation that was about as inspiring as a housebrick. I was really struggling with it over the Christmas holidays, but then I caught sight of Throne of Blood in the big Radio Times Christmas special.

It was my salvation! I loved the movie and wrote a rather good piece, although I probably spent too much time comparing the settings and how the feudal Japanese period suited the story, but I still got an A.

By: DeusXMachina

DeusXMachina — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 06:22:45 +0000

This is one of those films that makes me think of investing in a film screening system superior in quality to my laptop.

Thanks to my stepdad, I was raised watching films like this, and “Aguerre, Wrath of God”.

They never get old.

@Peter S. I’m intrigued by this news of OSF’s production. Are you directly involved in any way?

By: Links for 2009/10/3 | ChrisKinniburgh

Links for 2009/10/3 | ChrisKinniburgh — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 04:19:24 +0000

[...] Friday Afternoon Movie: Throne of Blood – I'm in love with these friday-afternoon-movies. They're great. I've seen very few of them, and I'm using them as part of my movie queue. – (media ) [...]

By: Tequila

Tequila — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 21:04:55 +0000

Shakespeare always seemed a natural fit for Japanese cinema and while I prefer RAN over Throne of Blood it’s really like comparing what amazingly awesome film do you like a microscopic bit more than the other. Kurosawa even at his most shall we say…eccentric…pushed the boundaries of keeping the emotions in tact beyond the visuals and spectacle. You don’t see that kind of control in a lot of directors. This goes beyond the typical samurai film in every sense…though as we all know he did damn good genre pics too.

I still wonder what it would have been like to see Kurosawa do a Shakespeare adaptation with western actors.

@Peter S. Weird choice of production but so very very cool. Reminds me of a recent HBO film that did something similar.

By: Ben Morris

Ben Morris — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 04:24:13 +0000

I love this film. Mifune is (as always) fantastic.

The only film adaptation of Shakespeare I think is superior is Orson Welles’ Chimes at Midnight.

By: Peter S.

Peter S. — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:50:27 +0000

Interestingly, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival has commissioned a stage adaptation of this film for next year’s season. Kind of a weird feedback loop, that.

By: Dina Haansley

Dina Haansley — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:30:46 +0000

Sounds like a pretty good film, gotta check it out. Yeah that seems pretty scary, he’s playing with a little more than fire having real arrows used. One wrong mistake and it’s over, brave man.

By: Luke Copping

Luke Copping — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:52:37 +0000

I Didn’t think you guys would have a better Friday afternoon movie than Stalker, but this changed my mind. One of my favorite films ever directed, and One of Kurosawa’s greatest. Throne of blood is consistently in my top ten, along with Kagemusha.