Throne of Blood : Akira Kurosawa

-

 

Sometimes, I watch some parts of a film in mute mode like the silent era; I do not read the titles. The reason behind these errands is very crucial to me; firstly, I want to catch the story line without external assistance then comes the point of finding the thrilling cinematic tempo and pace of the film themselves. If I can stand by the following sequences and enjoy the moments of watching the film, I come to the conclusion that this is a good film and can survive the taste of time and space beyond borders. This is one kind game for me as of today.

 


I was not informed about the inspiration of Throne of Blood [1957] and it is likely a Japanese adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth [1606]. But in the course of the watching, the film seemed to me a bit gray and monotonous in the tempo and mood. May be mostly because of its theatrical, gothic and formalist staging and acting. But Akira’s cinematic compositions, Toshiro Mifune’s spirited acting and Masaru Sato’s subtle musical scores have heightened the loftiness of the film.



The walking woods, floating fogs and their special effects are so mesmerizing that I still can immersed in thinking that era when using such kind of shootings were very costly and laborious. How enchanted and unbelievable were they for the global audience as much as today.

 

Throne of Blood [1957]

[蜘蛛巣城, Kumonosu-jō, Japanese]

Akira Kurosawa

Japanese, Japan

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shoeshine [1946] : Vittorio De Sica

-
Image
  After watching Vittorio De Sica’s Shoeshine [1946], it is evident why the Indian subcontinent was so much moved and influenced by Italian neorealism. I think the rationale of being realistic in Indian cinema was more impactful than Italian neorealism. Because India had one additional ground to illustrate her cinema in neorealist mold. It is its independence and great partition which occurred concurrently while the west was suffering from  Second World War devastation. Apart from cinematic techniques, art direction, costumes, and narrative subjects; neoliberalism made paramedic change into acting styles. The acting had been transcended from theatrical to natural. The spontaneous presence of child artists with ever presence of class division in the power structure and distributed justice in the human conditions are the main concerns. Surprisingly, K.A. Abbas’s Dharti Ke Lal [1946, Chetan Anand’s Neecha Nagar [1946] was also made and released in India in the same year. This tradition ha
Read more

বুনোহাঁস : পলাশ মাহমুদ

-
Image
  Photo Credit: Palash Mahmud    বুনোহাঁস -পলাশ মাহমুদ   এইতো তুমি নিখোঁজ হলে আমায় রেখে আসবে বলে চলে গেলে।     তোমার জন্য এইতো আমি উদাস হাওয়ায়, অপেক্ষাতে দাঁড়িয়ে থেকে বৃক্ষ হলাম।   কাকে বলবো, বলো?   যে মন বুনোহাঁস হয়ে মেঘের মাঝেতে ডুবে থাকে। তার চোখেতে জলের ধারা তারার তিমির রাখে।   কে জানে, বলো?   কী সহজ! কাছের কিছু হারিয়ে ফেলে ভুলে থাকা।   কী কঠিন! বৃক্ষ হয়ে, অভিমানে দাঁড়িয়ে থাকা।
Read more

Andaz [1949] : Mehboob Khan

-
Image
  It was 1949. The new born country was in the process of coming out of British influences in every aspect and facing a great crisis of duality of cultural & intellectual blending and existential crisis. On the high moment, Mehboob Khan’s Andaz [1949] shed lights on the exact spot through a rom-com narrative. The Indian upbringing with European liberalism of Meena played by Nargis had reflected in a balanced way in the movie.   The trio mega stars of that time [Nargis Dutt, Dilip Kumar & Raj Kapoor] in the same movie made it a big attraction that time I suppose. The narrative also reminds me of Adhiyaman's Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam [2002] starred by another trio Madhuri Dixit, Shahrukh Khan & Salman Khan with a different rendition.   The high value of women's loyalty and morality over love, lust & marriage are significantly exercised as it has been in Mother India [1957].   Andaz [1949] Mehboob Khan Hindi, India
Read more