Criterion DVD. Another supposed masterpiece from Japan, another film on both the IMDb top 250 and the TSPDT Top 1000, this is one I've known about for years and just never gotten around to. For those who don't know, it's Kurosawa's "Macbeth" and unlike much of his later epic film-making, this one attempts to distill the complex storyline down to its most basic elements...it's as close to horror as it is to an epic.
And it works, but only to me on a rather superficial level. The development and motivations of both Lord and Lady Washizu (Toshirô Mifune and Isuzu Yamada) is only thinly sketched -- true it isn't the most significant part of the Shakepeare original either, but here events move so quickly that I felt the madness was taking hold with no alternating moments of sanity, which I do remember from the play. Washizu gets the prophecy -- is promoted -- takes the Lordship -- pays the penalty -- it's all done in a breathless manner, with many striking scenes including the great final execution -- but to me at least it rang a bit hollow; I felt more of an understanding for the Macbeth of Welles and even Polanski than I did for Kurosawa's warlord. Great music and photography, as always, and the Criterion print is beautiful.
And it works, but only to me on a rather superficial level. The development and motivations of both Lord and Lady Washizu (Toshirô Mifune and Isuzu Yamada) is only thinly sketched -- true it isn't the most significant part of the Shakepeare original either, but here events move so quickly that I felt the madness was taking hold with no alternating moments of sanity, which I do remember from the play. Washizu gets the prophecy -- is promoted -- takes the Lordship -- pays the penalty -- it's all done in a breathless manner, with many striking scenes including the great final execution -- but to me at least it rang a bit hollow; I felt more of an understanding for the Macbeth of Welles and even Polanski than I did for Kurosawa's warlord. Great music and photography, as always, and the Criterion print is beautiful.