Internet Shakespeare Editions

Shakespeare in Performance: Film

Kumonosu-Djo (The Castle of the Spider's Web). [Throne of Blood] (1957, Akira Kurosawa)

TitleKumonosu-Djo (The Castle of the Spider's Web). [Throne of Blood]
Year1957
Release LocationsJapan
DirectorAkira Kurosawa
MediumBlack & white video
Length1 hrs, 45 mins
LanguagesEnglish
Audiencecollege and university
general public
Play ConnectionsMacbeth (adaptation)

Description

Not shown in the United States until 1961, the film has been critically acclaimed as one of the finest "translations" of Shakespeare's language into filmic art. In re-creating Shakespeare's play in the idiom of Japanese theatre, Kurosawa makes a visual text of his own, embedded in but not completely indebted to Shakespeare's text

Description from Shakespeare on Screen : an International Filmography and Videography by Kenneth S. Rothwell and Annabelle Henkin Melzer. ©1990 Kenneth S. Rothwell. Cited by permission. — Added 2008-11-14

Cast Overview

Taketoi Washizu/MacbethToshiro Mifune
Asaji/Lady MacbethIsuzu Yamada
Kuniharu Tsuzuki/DuncanTakamaru Sasaki
Kunimaru/MalcolmYoichi Tachikawa
Yoshiaki Miki/BanquoMinoru Chiaki
Yoshiteru/FleanceAkira Kubo
Weird WomanChieko Naniwa
Noriyasu OdaguraTakashi Shimura

Production Team and Crew Overview

DirectorAkira Kurosawa
ProducerAkira Kurosawa
EditingAkira Kurosawa
EditingAsaichi Nakai
ComposerMasaru Sato
Adaptor/TranslatorShinobuo Hashimoto
Adaptor/TranslatorRyuzo Kikushima
Adaptor/TranslatorAkira Kurosawa
Adaptor/TranslatorHideo Oguni
Adaptor/TranslatorDonald Richie
ProductionYoshiro Murai

Production information courtesy of: Kenneth Rothwell