Shakespeare and Film - Essay Example

? s Shakespeare and Film The literary feats of the Bard of Avon have become synonymous with people the world over; whether it’s a tragedy or a comedy, the tales of avarice, intrigue and lust for power have been theatrically retold countless times. Even the filmmaking sphere is heavily inspired by the work of Shakespeare and filmmakers have made their niche with their own versions and interpretations of Shakespearean texts that has amazed audiences and critics. Akira Kurosawa is one filmmaker, who has given new light to the plots and themes discussed in Shakespeare’s works. Kurosawan depiction of Shakespearean heroes follows the same intense pattern with rich historical background, and similar to Shakespeare’s approach the Japanese director used his work to comment on the history of Japan. The movie that is under discussion is titled “Throne of blood” that is a transposition of a Shakespeare’s most renowned tragedy “Macbeth”. Both stories are not only intense political dramas but also gives great deal of insight into the psyche of a psychotic killer. (Goodwin, 1994) Akira Kurosawa has translated all aspects and themes of Macbeth into Japanese culture by setting the story against the backdrop of one of the most turbulent times in Japan that is often referred to as the “Sengoku Jidai” which means “The age of the country at war”. The events have been believed to have transpired during the Muromachi period, a time when the violation of the samurai code was rampant and a serious moral misconduct in the Japanese society. Analogously, the backdrop of the machinations of a brave yet, misguided Scottish general named Macbeth, who is represented by Samurai Washizu in the film as he plots to gain control over the throne of the Spider web forest reigned by Lord Tsuzuki. (Galloway, 2005; Rowe, 2011; Yoshimoto, 2000) Kurosawa has incorporated elements of Noh Theater, which is the traditional Japanese theatrical presentation in the film. The movie also delves deep in to spiritual aspect of the movie in order to make it more relatable to the Japanese audiences and show the multitude of interpretations that can be drawn from Shakespearean text. The movie starts off by showing the facade of the Spider web castle, which highlights the primary theme of the story that is “lust and pursuit of power”. The supernatural elements are introduced into the first scene of the movie and unlike Macbeth the three witches are represented by an old ghost woman, spinning fabric with a wheel as Samurai Washizu and his companion Samurai Miki; who corresponds to the character of Banquo, are making their journey back to the castle through the forest. (Kunio, 2005) Kurosawa has used mist and fog as key elements of the opening shots in order to show the ambiguity and doubt that will haunt all the main characters in the movie. The misty visualization can also be taken to represent that superficial pursuit for greater wealth, power and position can cloud one’s judgment and often lead to an unsettled conscience constantly lambasting the individual. Another observation that further supports the postulation regarding the theme that Kurosawa wanted to incorporate in his movie was the use of “Spinning wheel” by the spirit that is a vague reference to the notion of karma and the belief of “what goes around comes around”. The movie’s production had commenced during a time when Japan was overcoming one of the greatest disaster that it has endured during the Second World War as a result of the nuclear bombing on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was the same carnage and violence that was then recreated in the movie with the use of intense shots of bloodshed and brutality that shows the ravages of war. Kurosawa has not only attempted to entail the bloody themes of Macbeth but also the painful tragedy that affected the entire Japanese society immensely. Furthermore, besides the generic message that the director has encompassed in the movie, the entry of Lady Macbeth characterized by Lady Asaji serves as a pivotal point in the story. Asaji’s introduction in the movie is crucial but what is more interesting is her characterization. Lady Macbeth and Asaji’s character though possessed the same ambition and lust for power but unlike Asaji’s association with supernatural elements, Lady Macbeth is described as having very masculine qualities by her husband Macbeth. Her masculinity was the source of her ability to develop diabolical plots in order to secure herself and her husband’s position. In line with most of the female characters, Shakespeare has tried to express his distaste for women who exhibit masculine qualities and how even men dislike these qualities when they found them in women. This actually draws a fine comparison between the depiction of eastern women and western women. Asaji was depicted as a femininely sly character whereas, Lady Macbeth was more proactive and shrewd that often gave her an upper-hand over her husband. (Jackson, 2007) Lady Asaji’s character is the one who actually proposes the idea of murdering the Lord in order to fulfill the prophecy made by the ghost woman; her portrayal is perhaps the most interesting aspect of the entire movie. Once again, Kurosawa has Noh elements in order to create parallels to Shakespearean character as Asaji acts with overt Noh mannerisms that leave behind ostensible and uncanny resemblance between her and the prognosticating spirit. Her behavior is almost unlike that of a human being, which actually sets her apart from her Shakespearean counterpart. Lady Asaji is dressed in traditional Japanese attire and wears makeup that is again a Noh theatrical component. The idea behind using thick make-up for Lady Asaji to give a feel that she is wearing a mask; which was a characteristic that Shakespeare always used a metaphor to describe the antagonists. This vein of thinking actually led Akira Kurosawa to combine the use of Mask in Japanese traditional theater arts with Shakespearean metaphor and the mask became symbolic for deception, misguidance and a way to cover up something tremendously hideous. Many critics have also created strong anthropomorphic conclusions regarding Lady Asaji’s character and have often been associated with a vixen due to her sly nature and manipulation of her husband. (Goodwin, 1994) Asaji’s mild manners, expressionless tone and delivering her ideas in a poetic manner are all aspects of a Noh theater tradition. Asaji further instigates Washizu to go ahead with the assassination by pointing that the Lord himself had taken his position by murdering his predecessor. This aspect runs parallel with the factual depiction of Shakespeare in the play, since in that Period Scottish throne was obtained by the King by murdering all the potential candidates, incorporation of this aspect in the film only meant that Kurosawa had chosen medieval settings so that he could also reenact the same power struggle that was rampant between samurais at that time. Therefore, such features of the story have been directly translated into the movie and remain consistent. Another critical postulation about Asaji characterization is that she may have been possessed or was a malevolent ghost that was actually driving Washizu towards his doom. Much synonymous with Japanese folklore is the possession of Fox spirits that also explains Asaji’s associations with Foxes. Even her husband Washizu begins to have doubts about her wife’s sanity and her unnatural predictions caused him to ask his wife whether she was a ghost or not; similar to Macbeth when he points his wife’s masculine traits, when she starts pointing her fingers at Samurai Miki’s loyalty Washizu. This clearly shows that Asaji is a complex character with characteristics that are beyond human comprehension. She is the greatest source of conflict in the entire movie and just like that of a ghost her end is also ambiguous. Lady Macbeth in the play actually commits suicide after being driven mad due to the gravity and brutality of her deeds; however, in the movie Asaji’s mild mannerism is maintained and her eerie stillness actually injects sense of diabolical purpose and ambition into the plot. One of the most important and original twist that was introduced in the story was that of Lady Asaji’s impregnation; it is often hinted in the movie that Asaji actually lied about her pregnancy because she uses her pregnancy as a ground to poison Washizu against Miki, to stop the second part of the prophecy from coming true, which was about Miki’s progeny that will rule over the Spider Web Forests. Similar to Macbeth, Washizu had also intended to name Banquo or Miki’s son as his successor however, when his wife Asaji, declares that she is expecting a child Washizu is faced with a great dilemma. He is torn between his wife and loyalty to his friend, however in the end Washizu has no moral qualms in murdering his friend and assumes the control of the North Castle that had been given to Miki in line with the ghost’s prophecy in earlier parts of the film. After Washizu murders his friend, he is unable to kill his son and after this the film loyally follows the course of the play with a small addition of a Karmic theme to the movie. Washizu had killed his friend in order to secure his unborn child’s future but it is told that the child was a stillborn. Kurosawa used the medium of “pregnancy and miscarriage” in order to reaffirm and highlight the strong eastern Karmic beliefs. Lady Asaji descends into a partially catatonic mental state and her psychological wellbeing is greatly hampered as a result of her past deeds as well. Both Washizu and Asaji have their own demons to battle but Washizu begins to hallucinate and starts seeing the ghost of Miki and much like Shakespeare the idea behind this was to convey a strong human trait of guilt and how he is haunted by the grave deeds he had committed. (Galloway, 2005) Both Asaji and Washizu are mentally devastated, Asaji is now obsessed with getting her hands rid of the pungent smell of blood similar to Lady Macbeth and Washizu is further tormented by his foes who have now discovered his heinous transgressions. As discussed earlier, Asaji’s end is ambiguous in the movie and is largely left for the audience to draw unlike Lady Macbeth’s suicide. Furthermore, even Washizu’s fate was not similar to Macbeth’s death; the former was another example of a karmic theme whereas, the latter was to show the fulfillment of another prophecy made by the three witches. Washizu was distraught upon how everything was turning out for him went to seek out the old woman ghost, who told him that he won’t be harmed unless the spider web forest turns against. The prophecy was very ambiguous similar to the one that was made for Macbeth that he will be slain by a Man who is not born of a woman; Washizu and Macbeth both thought to themselves that neither forests can move nor there is any man who is not born of a woman hence they felt safe and confident of their respective victories. Kurosawan depiction was more or less consistent with the main events in the story but the only major difference lied in the content. Macbeth subsequently met his end at the hands of Macduff, who before slaying Macbeth declares that he was not born of woman but was prematurely torn from his mother’s womb. On the other hand, Washizu was killed by his own men who saw the trees of the Spider web forest moving towards the castle, which was later discovered, were his enemies men disguised as the trees in order to take Washizu’s forces by surprise. There is ostensible difference between how both the acts were depicted; betrayal was a key theme in Kurosawan depiction as he wanted to make a statement on Karma and what Washizu reaped was what he had sowed that caused him to meet his tragic death. Washizu had betrayed his superior and then his friend hence it was only poetic justice that he was then betrayed by his own men. Shakespeare’s story also entailed Karmic themes but Akira Kurosawa not only added that but added his own original Japanese cultural touch to the movie that made it so believable. Kurosawan depiction of Macbeth was not only a Statement on cases of intrigue amongst the Japanese nobility but he used his movie to comment on two of the most important periods in the history of Japan. (Jackson, 2007; Galloway, 2005) Works Cited Galloway, Patrick. “Stray dogs & lone wolves: the Samurai film handbook”. Stone Bridge Press Incorporated, 2005: P.p 72 to 75. Print. Goodwin, James. “Akira Kurosawa & Intertextual Cinema”. Johns Hopkins University, 1994. Jackson, Russell. “The Cambridge companion to Shakespeare on Film”. Cambridge University Press, 2007: P.p 117-118, 131, 295-297. Print. Komparu, Kunio. “The Noh theater: principles and perspectives”. Floating world edition, 2005. Print. Kurosawa, Akira. Dir. “Kumonosu-jo (Throne of blood)”. Toho Kabushiki Kaisha Japan, 1957. Film, English Subtitled. Rowe, Katherine. “Macbeth: Evans Shakespeare edition”.Cengage Learning, 2011: P.p 247-250. Print. Shakespeare, William. “The tragedy of Macbeth”. Aquitaine Media Corp, 2008. Print. Yoshimoto, Mitsuhiro. “Kurosawa, film studies and Japanese cinema”. Duke University Press, 2000: P.p 102-104. Print. Read More