Throne of Blood

aka Spider's Web Castle
Akira Kurosawa, 1957, Japan, bw (7.9*)
In spite of the lurid title, this is another of the great Japanese director's early masterworks, it's not really a horror film. Based on Shakespeare's Macbeth, Kurosawa made it entirely Japanese, building his castle on Mt. Fuji, and mixing elements of Japanese theater into the film. Kurosawa even trucked in the black volcanic soil of Fuji into the studio lot to film the castle interiors.

The story involves the castle of the title, surrounded by a maze-like forest that adds to its protection. One day while lost in this forest, two military leaders who are lifetime friends receive a prophecy from a ghost that leads them into their own web of power seeking and mistrust, as they are each to become castle lords themselves. No medieval Japanese film can avoid war, and this has some beautifully filmed battle sequences, once again using stark black-and-white cinematography to show the power of horses and soldiers in battle, much like his earlier classic The Seven Samurai.

His new favorite actor Toshiro Mifune is featured in this one as well, though this film is not quite as artistic as Seven Samurai, it adheres to the Shakespearean story, so it's a bit more melodramatic and staged looking in comparison, though that's an honest cinematic interpretation of the play. With some haunting and huge-scale images, it's still a great example of the early Kurosawa style, and a worthy entry into the pantheon of Shakespeare transformed to film.

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Hamlet

Kenneth Branagh, 1996, 4 hrs. (8.6*)
We finally have not only a modern widescreen Hamlet, but the complete four-hour play as well for the first time in cinema history. Branagh has done a terrific and ambitious job here making the play much fresher and more palatable (not exactly a fun romp like Much Ado About Nothing or Merry Wives of Windsor) than previous screen incarnations.

Add to his 70-mm widescreen perspective (a few glorious scenes use this well) about 20 famous actors in cameo parts, and we finally have an entertaining Hamlet indeed. Co-stars Kate Winslet as Ophelia, and Julie Christie as his mother, Derek Jacobi as the king. Look for Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Jack Lemmon, Charlton Heston, Gerard Depardieu, and others.

Quote: To thine own self be true
Quote2: Neither a borrower nor a lender be
Quote3: Doubt the the stars are fire; doubt that the moon's above; doubt that the truth's a liar; but never doubt my love (Hamlet to Ophelia)

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Much Ado About Nothing

Dir: Kenneth Branagh, 1993 (9.1*)

This is my favorite Shakespearean play transcribed to film, Kenneth Branagh did a terrific job on this one. Basically a romance, the story involves some soldiers who return home from a war, in a thrilling opening sequence where all the women on the estate are running for the baths, trying to beat the soldiers arriving on horseback; when they all come together, the romance begins. There are several courting couples, led by Branah and offscreen wife Emma Thompson, as two embittered and battling “never to be” lovers, who trade insults and barbs like sword thrusts (elements of Taming of the Shrew here). Another couple, played by Kate Beckinsale and Robert Sean Leonard, is engaged to be wed, while some schemers plot to break up that marriage with deceit and subterfuge, hence the play’s title. There’s a lot of good-natured comedy and romantic play here, with sparkling dialogue, played by a large ensemble cast led by Denzel Washington, an eclectic group (that includes Keanu Reeves and Micheal Keaton!) that somehow works well together. This is about as enjoyable as the bard gets, now if they'd only film The Merry Wives of Windsor, who stayed merry by swapping husbands.

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