Throne of Blood

In Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, samurai warriors Washizu (Mifune) and Miki (Minoru Chiaki) 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 (Isuzu Yamada), presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place at Spider's Web Castle. "In Throne of Blood I utilized the Japanese style of painting known as Mushare (warrior painting) in my overall design, and I borrowed forms from Japanese Noh drama in staging the dramatic elements of the film. My aim was to transform Shakespeare into pure Japanese by borrowing freely from Japanese art forms." —Akira Kurosawa, Cinema Magazine