Throne of Blood

Kurosawa’s film, Throne of Blood, have similarities with the play of William Shakespeare, Macbeth. The film is based on the play so most of the events that happen in the film also occur on Shakespeare’s play. Both of them begin in the same point; there is a war and the principal character is the hero winning the war. At the end of the final battle the principal character with his main comrade are travelling when they meet the witch (in difference of the play, in the film only appears one witch but they are three in the Shakespeare’s work), and she recites the prophecy that the main characters and his comrade do not believe. The event that makes them trust on the witch’s prophecy is that the first part, that the main character will become the ruler, become true. So far of the part seen of the movie, in both, play and film, the wife of the main character is the one who convince her husband to act, but they convince him in a different way. Lady Macbeth convinces her husband, Macbeth, to kill Duncan by putting his maleness in doubt. In the other hand Asaji-dono convinces her husband by telling him that Miki can betray him causing his destruction, she say that he has to choose between waiting his own destruction or kill his lord. The film shows more the Japanese culture’s idea of loyalty and honor. Kurosawa emphasized more certain aspects that Shakespeare did not; the main reason of these is because of the Japanese culture. For example in the film the values that are most emphasize are the honor and the loyalty towards the lord, but in Macbeth that values are irrelevant. The Japanese culture have these feeling of pleasure by been loyal to their lord and honoring him, the best example to see the importance of the honor and loyalty in the Japanese culture is the legend of the 47 Ronin. The story tells how 47 Ronin (a samurai that lost his daimyo, or feudal lord) revenge their daimyo because he was force to commit seppuku (the ritual of suicide, it is dying with honor in the Japanese culture) by a crime that he did not committed.