# Throne of Blood

Throne of Blood is a 1957 Japanese jidaigeki film about a war-hardened general, egged on by his ambitious wife, who works to fulfill a prophecy that he would become lord of Spider's Web Castle. The film transposes the plot of William Shakespeare's play Macbeth (1606) from medieval Scotland to feudal Japan, with stylistic elements drawn from Noh drama.
    Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Written by Shinobu Hashimoto, Ryūzō Kikushima, Akira Kurosawa, and Hideo Oguni, based on Macbeth by William Shakespeare.

## Taketori Washizu

* Cowards! I see it now! You'll slay me and offer my head when you surrender!
* [glances up from his drink and suddenly pales as he sees the ghost of Miki] There he is again! If you hate me, why not draw your sword? [He charges, swiping again and again with his sword]

## Lady Asaji Washizu

* Admirable, my Lord. You, who would soon rule the world, allow a ghost to frighten you.
* Without ambition, man is not man.
* I did not stain my hands with blood to forward Yoshiteru, Miki's son.
* Listen, even the crow is saying: The throne is yours.

## Yoshiaki Miki

* What warrior would not want to be lord of a mighty castle?

## Old Ghost Woman

* [singing] Men are vain and death is long, And pride dies first within the grave, For hair and nails are growing still, When face and fame are gone, Nothing in this world will save, Or measure up man's actions here, Nor in the next - for there is none, This life must end in fear, Only evil may maintain, An afterlife for those who will, Who love this world - who have no son, To whom ambition calls, Even so - this false fame falls, Death will reign - man dies in vain.
* You humans! Never will I comprehend you. You are afraid of your desires - you try to hide them.
* If you choose ambition, lord, then choose it honestly, with cruelty.
* If you would make a mountain of the dead, pile it so it reaches the sky.
* If you would shed blood, then let it run as a river.

## Other

* Washizu soldier: A message from Lady Asaji! "If arrows cannot open the gates, then a corpse will."
* Washizu samurai: I have fought in many battles and have seen blood, yet this stain horrifies me. Because this is the blood of a dog, the blood of a despised traitor. He was a coward too. Cried for mercy after his revolt was over.

## Dialogue

    Taketori Washizu: Miki would never speak of it. He is my best friend.
    Lady Asaji Washizu: He is ambitious. Children kill their parents for less. This is a wicked world. To save yourself you often first must kill. It is possible that Miki has already betrayed you. I fear this.
    [Washizu enters Lady Washizu's quarters and sees Lady Washizu kneeling, staring blankly out at nothing, nervously washing her hands in a bowl]
    Lady Asaji Washizu: Will it never be gone? The blood. I wash and wash, yet the blood remains - and the smell! Will my hands never again be clean?
    Taketori Washizu: Asaji!
    Lady Asaji Washizu: There is still blood. My hands. Why do they not become clean? I wash and wash, still they smell of blood.
    Taketori Washizu: Asaji!
    Washizu Guard #1: I cannot believe that this castle is as strong as it was.
    Washizu Guard #2: I heard something, too. The rats have begun to leave.
    Washizu Guard #3: It is said that rats leave the house just before it burns.
    Yoshiaki Miki: Can you see the future as I see you?
    Old Ghost Woman: Honorable Captain Miki. You are in command of Fort Two. Today you will take command of Fort One.
    Yoshiaki Miki: Command of Fort One?
    [He glances at Washizu, then back at the Old Ghost Woman]
    Yoshiaki Miki: And what then?
    Old Ghost Woman: Your luck turns slower... but it lasts longer than that of Captain Washizu.
    Yoshiaki Miki: Slower? How do you mean?
    Old Ghost Woman: Your son will eventually become the Lord of Cobweb Castle.
    Yoshiaki Miki: My only wish would be a long, quiet sleep.
    Taketori Washizu: I feel I am already sleeping and have had a frightening dream. What that witch or spirit said, that is what I dream of.
    Yoshiaki Miki: We dream of what we wish.
    Taketori Washizu: His Lordship trusts me more than anyone else. And that is why he has given me the honor of leading the attack.
    Lady Asaji Washizu: Where arrows will find you not only from the front but from the rear.

## Cast

* Toshiro Mifune - Taketoki Washizu
* Isuzu Yamada - Lady Asaji Washizu
* Takashi Shimura - Noriyasu Odagura
* Akira Kubo - Yoshiteru Miki
* Yōichi Tachikawa - Kunimaru Tsuzuki
* Minoru Chiaki - Yoshiaki Miki
* Takamaru Sasaki - Lord Kuniharu Tsuzuki
* Chieko Naniwa - Witch
* Kokuten Kōdō - First General

## External links

* Throne of Blood quotes at the Internet Movie Database