Robert N. Watson has written some great commentary on one of Akira Kuroswawa's masterpieces in BFI: Throne Of Blood (2014). The Japanese title of the film, incidentally, is Kumonosu-jo (Spider's Web Castle). In the introduction, Watson points out that there was a tepid reaction when the film was first released-it was voted the fourth best film of 1957 in the Kinema Junpo end of the year list. However, over time it has garnered respect as one of Kurosawa's finest achievements and one of the best film adaptations of a Shakespeare play,Mac Beth, of all time. Watson cites its influence on him probably led him to become a Shakespearean professor. In fact, my own first viewing was as an assignment in an university Shakespeare course to watch the film and compare and contrast it with a filmed Royal Shakespeare performance of MacBeth. Watson states that it is a a profoundly ambivalent exploration of human morality that is at once intensely localized and transhistorical-and deeply self-conscious of the medium. In the next section, "A Guided Tour Through the Spider's Web," Watson analyzes the film with commentary chronologically as it was presented in the film: from "Day One" until it's conclusion on "Day Six." There are several photos to reflect points that Watson makes about mise en scene throughout the discussion. It is a very though provoking analysis and description, in fact, I was inspired to go back and watch my 2003 Criterion edition of the film again.
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