>
> > Do you feel the same way about, say,
Kurosawa's
> > versions of
> > Shakespeare, or about Polanski's film version
of
> > Macbeth?
>
> Haven't seen either THRONE OF BLOOD or
Polanski's
> MACBETH. That said, Kurosawa, strictly
speaking,
> wasn't adapting Shakespeare's play. He was taking
the
> same historical events, transposing them to Japan,
and
> then telling the story his own way.
I'm afraid you're not familiar enough with either Kurosawa's
intent nor the
"historical events" of Macbeth. Kurosawa has spoken and
written extensively about his adaptation of Shakespeare's
play, making clear his intent to transpose the play (not the
events) to a Japanese setting. And the events of the play
that are carried from Macbeth to Throne of Blood are the
dramatic creations of Shakespeare, not history. Banquo's
ghost is not an historical event, but a dramatic one created
by Shakespeare, and it's prominent in Throne of Blood. Same
for the witches (three in Shakespeare, one in Kurosawa, but
serving the same dramatic purpose). The scheming wife,
floating daggers, the march of the forest toward the castle,
the wife's suicide, none of these have historical bases, but
all are adapted from Shakespeare's play into Kurosawa's film.
The historical basis of Macbeth, btw, is pretty much limited
to the murder of a Scottish king by one who succeeds him. The
play, based loosely on this event, is Shakespeare's creation
and Kurosawa's basis for Throne of Blood. For Kurosawa, the
history was damn near irrelevant.
Jim Beaver
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