IMDb > Kumonosu-jou (1957)
Kumonosu-jou
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Kumonosu-jou (1957) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
8.1/10   11,337 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 8% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Akira Kurosawa
Writers:
Shinobu Hashimoto (writer)
Ryûzô Kikushima (writer)
more
Contact:
View company contact information for Macbeth on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
22 November 1961 (USA) more
Genre:
Action | Drama | Fantasy | Thriller | War more
Plot:
A ruthlessly ambitious lord, egged on by his wife, works to fulfill a prophecy that he would become Emperor. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
3 wins & 1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
(16 articles)
Holiday Preview: A Repertory Calendar
 (From IFC. 3 November 2009, 1:01 PM, PST)

New 'Hamlet' to Get the Horror Treatment, Star Emile Hirsch
 (From CinemaSpy. 27 August 2009, 8:55 AM, PDT)

User Comments:
Another haunting movie masterpiece from Kurosawa. more (68 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Toshirô Mifune ... Taketori Washizu
Isuzu Yamada ... Lady Asaji Washizu
Takashi Shimura ... Noriyasu Odagura
Akira Kubo ... Yoshiteru Miki
Hiroshi Tachikawa ... Kunimaru Tsuzuki (as Yoichi Tachikawa)
Minoru Chiaki ... Yoshiaki Miki
Takamaru Sasaki ... Kuniharu Tsuzuki
Kokuten Kodo ... Military Commander
Kichijiro Ueda ... Washizu's workman
Eiko Miyoshi ... Old Woman at castle
Chieko Naniwa ... Old Ghost Woman
Nakajiro Tomita ... Second Military Commander
Yû Fujiki ... Washizu samurai
Sachio Sakai ... Washizu samurai
Shin Otomo ... Washizu samurai
more
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Throne of Blood (UK) (USA) (original subtitled version)
Cobweb Castle
Macbeth (USA)
Spider Web Castle
The Castle of the Spider's Web
more
Runtime:
110 min
Country:
Japan
Language:
Japanese
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording) | Mono (Perspecta Sound encoding)
Certification:
Singapore:PG | Portugal:M/12 | Netherlands:12 | South Africa:PG | USA:TV-MA (cable rating) | Sweden:15 | Argentina:16 | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Switzerland:14 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1991) | UK:12 (re-rating) (2001) | USA:Unrated
Company:
Toho Company more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Takeshi Katô (Guard killed by Washizu) was worried about the thrust of Toshirô Mifune's sword, so he placed a block of wood in his arm pit. Unfortunately Mifune's thrust split the block and wounded Katô. He carries a scar to this day. more
Goofs:
Continuity: After Mifune and his friend come to the forest clearing where the spirit dwells, as they get down from their horses, all of Mifune's arrows fall out of his quiver. In the next shot however, the quiver is full of arrows again. more
Quotes:
Old Ghost Woman: [singing] ambition is false fame and will fall, death will reign, man falls in vain more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Sennen joyû (2001) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
26 out of 29 people found the following comment useful.
Another haunting movie masterpiece from Kurosawa., 8 July 2003
Author: Infofreak from Perth, Australia

In my opinion 'Throne Of Blood' is almost as brilliant as Kurosawa's more celebrated 'Rashomon'. It's almost impossible to fault this brilliant adaptation of Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'. It's the most compelling version of the story I have seen, even better than Polanski's outstanding film of the early 1970s, which until seeing 'Throne Of Blood' was my favourite. Kurosawa is without doubt one of the greatest film makers of all time, and watching this movie is experiencing a master at work. Toshiro Mifune gives another brilliant performance and Isuzu Yamada, who plays his wife (the equivalent of the Lady Macbeth character) is absolutely chilling. The stylized acting combined with the superb cinematography gives this movie a frightening nightmarish feel, yet the characters are always human. This makes it a very powerful and haunting movie. I don't seem to see 'Throne Of Blood' mentioned a lot as one of Kurosawa's best, but I was incredibly impressed by it, and it comes with my highest recommendation. This is a brilliant movie and to call it a masterpiece is no exaggeration.

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Message Boards

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