I may not know much of anything about Japan, apart from what can be inferred from anime, one travel book written in the fifties, and the occasional pop novel. I may not be, as my colleague so obviously is, overly familiar with the works of Akira Kurosawa, though having hung out with some people who were fascinated with that country and its culture, I’ve seen pieces of at least three different films of his. But if I have an area of expertise, it is the life and legend of Macbeth, and it was my reading up on that topic that brought me to Throne of Blood, which is a retelling of Shakespeare’s play set in feudal Japan.

Throne of Blood is perhaps more accurately titled Cobweb Castle which I’ve been led to believe is a better translation of its Japanese title. It is questionable that the man whom General Washizu usurps in fact has a throne. He is more of a regional lord than an emperor, but he certainly has a castle, the one that stands above the Cobweb forest and it is there that Washizu wishes to live with the attending benefits and responsibilities. But, again, my understanding of feudal Japan is practically nil, and perhaps even regional lords get thrones.

It follows fairly closely with the play, with Toshiro Mifune as General Washizu, the Macbeth character. He and his good friend Miki get lost in the Cobweb forest and come across a woman all in white, who gives them the fatal predictions. The two men laugh off their apparent coming good fortune with great merriment, until the first of the predictions comes true for both. This was a wonderful moment in the film, as their lord bestows new honors on them, and they are both surprised and not surprised, and it begins to dawn on them that there might be more and greater things in store for them, and yet, because they are in the midst of a ceremony, they cannot betray their emotions by more than a glance.

Later, Washizu tells his wife, Lady Asaji, and she, played to the cool, malicious hilt by Isuzu Yamada, begins to work on him. What is, I think, the best innovation of this production, is a deepening of the Lady Macbeth role. Her reasoning behind pushing her husband to murder his lord is more developed here. The other innovation to the story is that it is considerably slower to get going, which while watching the film through perplexed me, I had, not long before, gone through the Shakespeare play and was puzzling on how they were going to fit it all in, but upon reflection, it flows more naturally this way. There’s no rush to set up characters or explain that there was just a battle fought, because we were watching that battle as it unfolded, and we watched Washizu and Miki argue and speculate as they were lost in the woods. In the play, Macbeth gets the prophecy and kills the king in practically the next scene. In Throne of Blood its obvious that Washizu’s had time to settle into the castle he’d been promoted to and that Asaji’s had time to weaken his loyalties, before the lord arrives to meet his fate.

While we’re on the subject its worth noting is that one of the points that Lady Asaji makes in her convincing argument for her husband to strike down his superior is that the man had killed his own lord to gain that same Cobweb Castle. This is especially interesting in light of the historic succession of the throne of Scotland, where Macbeth was hardly the first king to dispose of his predecessor; in fact, it was more common for the kings of Scotland, at least pre-twelfth century, to be killed by their relatives than by foreign enemies (and certainly both were more common than dying a peaceful, natural death, as the duty that kingship conferred was primarily a role of war leader.)

And Washizu puts up a better fight than Macbeth did trying to resist the relentless, pessimistic logic of his wife. There is more emphasis here on the fall of a good man into disrepute, rather than the more standard regret after the act. Even the eventual madness of his wife was given a firmer reason that just general guilt for what is, yes, the supreme act of treason.

Apart from judging its merits as an adaptation, I should reflect on how it works as a film. It’s very slow; very slow to get going, very slow to progress. There are many moments of reflection, and few moments of action, despite there being many battles along the way. I am torn between it being an effective use of time, and its need to be more streamlined. But seeing Lady Asaji creep around, taking infinitely small steps, intent on murder is quite simply poetry; while the ten minute sequence of Washizu and Miki riding through fog after meeting the prophetess seemed a bit unnecessary. I am not sure I am objective enough to do the separation, but as a discussion of Shakespeare’s play, it is very interesting; as a war movie, it just doesn’t have that same kick.