Directed by:
黒澤明Cinematography:
Asakazu NakaiComposer:
Masaru SatōCast:
Toshirō Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Takashi Shimura, Akira Kubo, Hiroshi Tachikawa, Minoru Chiaki, Takamaru Sasaki, Chieko Naniwa, Seiji Miyaguchi, Isao Kimura, 三好栄子 (more)VOD (1)
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Japanese drama based on William Shakespeare's play 'Macbeth', directed by Akira Kurosawa. In the aftermath of their victory in battle, commanders Taketoki Washizu (Toshiro Mifune) and Yoshiaki Miki (Minoru Chiaki) are confronted by a mysterious spirit which prophesies their rise to power. Though at first they dismiss this prediction, Washizu finds himself pushed into prominence by his ambitious wife while Miki and his descendants also gain more and more power. But as they steadily rise, their ambition and growing lust for power begins to take its toll. (British Film Institute (BFI))
(more)Reviews (3)
Kurosawa transfers a Shakespeare tragedy to feudal Japan. More famous than this is the more spectacular Ran, but this adaptation of Macbeth deserves attention too, even if only to watch the excellent performance by Toshiro Mifune in the role of the manipulated, ambitious Washizu. Particularly at the beginning the pace is terribly slow and some scenes drag on to the very brink of being at all bearable, for instance the lost in fog scene. The biggest drawback for the movie is Isuzu Yamada’s performance as Lady Asaji “Macbeth" Washizu. Her acting style is overly theatrical and sometimes she over-acts like nothing on earth. Which, in view of the fact that while being a small role, it is the most important one in the whole movie slash “Macbeth", and the result is rather lame. The movie isn’t as impressive in terms of production design as his later movie, Ran, but the makers made excellent use of the fog and so this is pretty atmospheric, if nothing else. But overall, this was a slight disappointment.
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With each subsequent Kurosawa excursion into Japanese history, my aversion to his exaggerated theatricality grows. It manifests itself in unnatural gestures, rolling eyes, and pathos in speech. Regardless of cultural differences, people in medieval Japan certainly did not speak or act in this way. It is too disruptive for me, a distracting element in the film that otherwise boasts a powerful story inspired by Shakespearean drama. The film's merit lies in its lavishness typical of Kurosawa's historical films and several atmospherically evocative scenes from the mysterious Spider's Web Forest. On the other hand, the direction is static, and the individual shots are, at the very least in some cases, excessively long. Overall impression: 45%.
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Akira Kurosawa was simply a brilliant filmmaker and his films are incredibly powerful. In this case, it's a movie that can get you with emotions, but at the same time, also with action scenes that are sometimes truly spectacular. The beautiful scene with the arrows in the finale is an excellent climax, where it's evident that Kurosawa had not only a sense for excellent shots but also actors who could deliver what the director envisioned. Mifune was brilliant.
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