After Taketori Washizu [Toshiro Mifune] and Yoshiaki Miki [Minoru Chiaki], Commanders of the First and Second Fortress respectively, help suppress a surprise attack from Inui they have been called to meet with the Great Lord. On the way to the Spider Web Castle they become lost in the maze of a forest that surrounds the castle. In this forest they meet a spirit [Chieno Naniwa] that tells them of their future and this leads them on a path of betrayal and murder to reach these goals that were foretold for them.
This is Kurosawa’s transcription of another famous William Shakespeare play, Macbeth, in feudal Japan. I found myself finding it more and more difficult to enjoy this movie as it moved on mainly because of the senseless reasoning of our protagonist, Washizu. He is told by a spirit that he will soon enough become Emperor of the lands, and then one night his wife, Lady Asaji Washizu [Isuzu Yamada], tells him about how the only way he will ever become Emperor is to murder the Emperor. If I were in this scenario then since the spirit told me it would happen then I wouldn’t need to do much more than be a good soldier and move up the ranks like all the others and wait for the Emperor to croak and then I’ll be in. Maybe I’m simplifying the issue but to murder the Emperor seems slightly to blunt for me and for this character.
The film contains a lot of the great acting you expect to see in any Kurosawa film. Toshiro Mifune may be one of Kurosawa’s most used actors and there is a reason for that. His tone from scene to scene and line to line is amazing, showing remorse, regret, aggression, anger and even solace as the movie reaches its end point. I love the way that he never seems to over act a scene. He knows exactly how much action as well as emotion is required to help make me (the viewer) understand exactly what he’s doing in that moment and why. I was also quite surprised by how much I loved the scene in the woods with the spirit. The spirit was just as eerie as you would imagine. He comes and doles out these fortunes for our characters and we are left (as are the characters) to wonder how it is that these ends come about. And by the end of the movie I find myself asking a question that is asked of us in The Matrix “would you have done it if I hadn’t told you?”
In the end this movie is what it is, a good film but not a great movie. I had issues with characters and certain plot points related to characters but all of the technical brilliance you would expect from a Kurosawa film starring Mifune is there.
IMDB says 8.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes says 97%
I say 5.0/10
The only place this really diverges from the original Shakespeare play, Macbeth, is the ending. I agree on that front though, I never liked (or understood) Macbeth's decisions, and here they play out similarly. This is also the first movie I started noticing Kurosawa's often use of strong willed, but cold hearted, women in his films. I find for the Shakespeare faithful this film tends to rank highly among their most beloved Kurosawa films. A matter of taste really.
How is 5/10 a rating you give to a good movie?
Aw, man, I heard this was a good'n. Can't say myself, but I still need to check it out. Definitely get around to Rashomon if you haven't already, might just be in my Top 5. Great review all the same, really dig your writing style. Keep it up!