"A sword can beat another sword, but it cannot beat a thousand arrows." So says Mike in this episode on Throne of Blood (1957), Akira Kurosawa's version of Macbeth. What does Kurosawa get right--more so than many other traditional adaptations? What single plot change from the original makes Throne of Blood even more "Macbethish" (to quote Joe Mackewicz) than the original? And how does Kurosawa manipulate physical spaces to suggest the moral claustrophobia of his hero? And what in this film calls to mind the murderous couple in Double Indemnity? In so many ways, Japan is more Scottish than Scotland. So dodge those arrows and give it a listen!
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