Kurosawa's Macbeth

 Throne of Blood is a great example of an adaptation. I think adapting stories for different cultures is one of the main reasons to adapt something and Throne of Blood shows this very well. It is from a completely different culture and time and using a different medium. Yet Throne of Blood keeps the essence of the story from Macbeth while changing some things to better reflect Japanese culture. An early  difference I noticed is how the three witches are represented as a single forest spirit, which is similar but more Japanese.

The most important change I noticed was between the characters of Macbeth and Washizu. Washizu appears to be more loyal than Macbeth. There are not a lot of actions to illustrate this but in the way his character acts seems genuine and loyal to begin with. He does not show ambition or betrayal before talking with his wife. Then as she encourages him to pursue the prophecy he is much more resistant. She convinces him through political talk that he should strike before his enemies strike him. So he does turn on the king, yet later his wife wants to be rid of Miki (banquo) Here we see Washizu again show loyalty to his friend and resistance to the idea of betraying him. It is only after his wife claims she is pregnant that he agrees to eliminate Miki. I thought it was very interesting that he considered appointing Miki's son as his own heir since he had none, which would then make the prophecy true. I really liked this idea because it seemed like everyone would win, Macbeth and his wife get to rule, then Banquo's kids get to, and the prophecy is fulfilled. I think that these changes show the Japanese character. They are a much more socially conscious and communal culture. Their honor and loyalty is extremely important. In European cultures, individualism and the quest for personal gain is more socially accepted.

I think we also see a sign of this social consciousness in the way Washizu is killed. Rather than be killed in single combat, he is shot down by his own entire army. I thought this was pretty symbolic of the Japanese group mind set as well, because the entire group took down the one who tried to put himself up too high.

I feel like this story had a lot of action in it, relative to movies of the time and the original story. It doesn't seem like a lot of action today, but there is a decent amount of horse riding, bows and arrows, and swords. I feel like that would be a big draw to the audience this was trying to appeal to. My favorite part of the movie was seeing the groups of full armored samurai riding horses. Even early on when Washizu and Miki encounter the spirit, their reaction is to attack with their spear and bow which was funny. We see Washizu actually kill one of the guards after he kills the king, that is usually off screen. And the horse riding and samurai scenes after the king's death and during the ending are extended to create more action. This happens at the expense of other parts of the story such as the character of Macduff and lots of dialogue. It was an enjoyable story on it's own and true to the original, a good adaptation.