This film is Akira Kurosawa’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. This contains the same storyline, except with samurai peoples and Japanese culture. This contains a Noh theatre aesthetic with a Western tragedy. This film considered as one of the best versions of Macbeth in the world.
The very first thing that I noticed was the variety of transitions Kurosawa uses: fade to black, wipe, fade, and even dissolve. A shot that immediately stood out to me was when the spirit was first introduced (a spirit was used instead of witches because witches don’t exist in Japanese culture). In this scene there is a very bright, white light that is on top of the spirit, making him stand out as he tells the prophecy to the two soldiers. This is all shot behind the two soldiers who stand in darkness among the trees that frame the shot perfectly and the spirit is seen between the two soldiers as they listen. This film was FULL OF NOH DRAMA STUFF such as: assertive flute, exaggerated facial expressions, stillness and then agitation within scenes, and more. Other repetitive aspects I noticed were the heavy usage of fog/mist, flocks of birds (these gave me Hitchcock vibes), dark and light, natural lighting, shots through forest, rain, and a lot of tracking shots executed perfectly. This film was good. When I first watched this film, I was not a big fan. That is because I didn’t do my homework and was not really aware of what Noh drama was all about. Once I did my research, I truly appreciated this film. This was interesting and I actually like this version better than the original Macbeth, (this movie also helped me with my test on Macbeth the day after I watched it). This was very well done and is a must see film. P.S. Happy Belated Birthday to Bae, Toshiro Mifune.
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May 2017
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