Throne of Blood

Also known as The Spider Web Castle

1957 film by Akira Kurosawa

Film · TMDB

7.9

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.

Released: 1957-01-15108 minDir: Akira KurosawaDrama, HistoryBox office: $13,422

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Cast

Toshirō Mifune as Taketoki Washizu
Isuzu Yamada as Lady Asaji Washizu
Takashi Shimura as Noriyasu Odagura
Akira Kubo as Yoshiteru Miki
Hiroshi Tachikawa as Kunimaru Tsuzuki
Minoru Chiaki

~16 min read

Article

Throne of Blood (Japanese: 蜘蛛巣城, Hepburn: Kumonosu-jō; lit. 'The Spider Web Castle') is a 1957 Japanese epic jidaigeki film co-written, produced, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. The film transposes the plot of English dramatist William Shakespeare's play Macbeth (1606) from Medieval Scotland to feudal Japan, with stylistic elements drawn from Noh drama. The film stars Toshiro Mifune and Isuzu Yamada in the lead roles, modelled on the characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.

Like the play, the film tells the story of a warrior who assassinates his sovereign at the urging of his ambitious wife. Kurosawa was a fan of the play and intended to make his own adaptation for several years, delaying it after learning of Orson Welles' Macbeth (1948). Among his changes was the ending, which required archers to shoot arrows around Mifune. The film was shot around Mount Fuji and Izu Peninsula. With a budget of US$350,000 (equivalent to $4,012,000 in 2025), the film was one of the most expensive films ever made in Japan at the time of its release.