Nature and Society in Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood
- Nature and Society in Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood
Brian Parker
Professor Emeritus of English, Trinity College, University of Toronto Coeditor, Elizabethan Theater: Essays in Honor of S. Schoenbaum (1995); editor, William Shakespeare, Coriolanus (1994); editor, Ben Jonson, Volpone (1983)
Footnotes
1. There are differences between the final, subtitled film versions of both Throne of Blood and Ran and their screenplays as published in translation; unless otherwise noted, the citations are from the film versions. Donald Richie wrote the subtitles for Throne of Blood, Anne Brau those for Ran.
2. See Silver, esp 43–45, Desser, and Prince 1991.
3. See Morris, passim.
4. Kurosawa criticizes the corruption of this society in his very free version of Hamlet, The Bad Sleep Well (1960), which is set among the ruthless businessmen (zaifatsu) of postwar Japan. Cf Perret, 6.
5. Cf Collick: Throne of Blood ‘represents an impasse in the liberal view of politics in Japan during the late 1950's’ (181).
6. A condensed introduction to this complex of ideas can be found in Prince 1988, 4–17. See also Suzuki, 89–136, and relevant entries in the Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan.
7. See Zambrino.
8. See Parker 1986.
9. Quoted in Richie and Mellen, 117.
10. For illustrations and description, see Komparu, 224ff, esp 236–9.
11. Keene, 33; for a comparison with Brecht's Verfremdungseffekt, see Mellen, 16–19.
12. This ‘freeze’ effect is like held poses called kimaru in Japanese dance. For the yase-ototo suggestion, see Goodwin, 189.
13. Quoted in Shirae, Shibata, and Yamada, 76.
14. The published script calls, however, for ‘crumbling stone walls,’ ‘water of a moat with green scum, glimmering dimly,’ and ‘a sobbing old pine tree [that] rustles against a stone wall,’ like the pine that forms the background of all Noh stages; see Niki, 155.
15. Quoted in Man veil, 104.
16. There is a Buddhist ceremony where priests fire arrows against evil spirits (cf Titus Androniais). This arrow may relate to the arrow that finally transfixes Washizu's throat, which comes from a different direction from the other arrows.
17. Quoted in Manvell, 103; the title means ‘Black Mound.’
18. See Keene, 90, for an illustration.
19. Quoted Manvell, 103.
20. For example, in the Noh play Semiramu, which is a source for the Tsurumaru episodes in Ran; for a picture, see Keene, 89.
21. Cf McDonald: ‘As Washizu and Miki finally emerge from the murky forest, we feel as if we have stepped into and out of the depths of the protagonist's mind’ (159). This is also Blumenthal's view in his pioneering study ‘Macbeth into Throne of Blood,’ 191.
22. Lynda Boose made the interesting suggestion (in discussion with the author) that Washizu's fatal complacency is Kurosawa's criticism of Japanese reliance in the Second World War on the impregnability of their island, protected by the kamikaze (sacred winds) which became the destructive blast of atomic bombs.
23. Kurosawa, in Manvell, 103; this second mask is usually called deigan, Isuzu Yamada, who played Asaji, was not only a nearly perfect example of classical Japanese ideals of feminine beauty but also appreciably older than Toshiro Mifune, playing Washizu – with implications both for her dominance and her childlessness.
24. The only exception is Goodwin (181), who comes independently to the same conclusion as myself. Hapgood suggests a possible historical precedent, however, in the unexpected pregnancy of the shogun Yoshimasa's wife (236).
25. In Hisae Niki's translation of the script, Washizu is shot in the head by one of his generals and falls headlong from the watchtower, without confronting his enemies (205).
26. Miki's rabbit insignia, on the other hand, suits both the pacific and prolific aspects of his character.
27. This chant in Hisae Niki's translation goes (206):
The attacking forces were none other than the rustling reeds in the breeze,
The war cries were none other than a breeze in the pine tree.
[A sobbing pine tree rustles against a stone wall.]
The ruins show the fate of demonic men with. treacherous desire.
Life is the same now as in ancient times.
28. See Kurosawa, 46.
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