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Throne of Blood

Throne of Blood

Drama · History · 1957

Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.

Movie details

Throne of Blood

1957 Drama · History 1h 48m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.9 / 10

Community rating

Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Throne of Blood?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Akira Kurosawa

Written by

Shinobu Hashimoto · Ryuzo Kikushima · Akira Kurosawa · Hideo Oguni

Toshirō Mifune

Toshirō Mifune

Taketoki Washizu

Isuzu Yamada

Isuzu Yamada

Lady Asaji Washizu

Takashi Shimura

Takashi Shimura

Noriyasu Odagura

Akira Kubo

Akira Kubo

Yoshiteru Miki

Hiroshi Tachikawa

Hiroshi Tachikawa

Kunimaru Tsuzuki

Minoru Chiaki

Minoru Chiaki

Yoshiaki Miki

Takamaru Sasaki

Takamaru Sasaki

Kuniharu Tsuzuki

Court is in session

Put Throne of Blood on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.