Throne of Blood

1957 · directed by Akira Kurosawa

Rating

90/100

Hit

yes

Prestige lists

Criterion

Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.

Throne of Blood (1957), directed by Akira Kurosawa, rates 90/100 — a hit. See how its director, cast and crew rate across their careers.

Cast

• Toshirō Mifune
• Isuzu Yamada
• Takashi Shimura
• Akira Kubo
• Hiroshi Tachikawa
• Minoru Chiaki
• Takamaru Sasaki
• Gen Shimizu
• Kokuten Kōdō
• Kichijirō Ueda

Crew

• Asakazu Nakai — Director of Photography
• Akira Kurosawa — Editor
• Masaru Satō — Original Music Composer
• Akira Kurosawa — Screenplay
• Hideo Oguni — Screenplay
• Ryuzo Kikushima — Screenplay
• Shinobu Hashimoto — Screenplay

More from Akira Kurosawa

1. Seven Samurai (1954) — 100/100 · hit
2. Rashomon (1950) — 99/100 · hit
3. Ikiru (1952) — 91/100 · hit
4. Ran (1985) — 91/100 · hit
5. High and Low (1963) — 91/100 · hit
6. Yojimbo (1961) — 90/100 · hit

How these numbers work: Methodology