Introduction Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, has been adapted into different films since its original publication in 1623. For example, in 1957, Akira Kurosawa adapted the tragedy of Macbeth as a Japanese character named Washizu into a film called Throne of Blood by making numerous changes perhaps to fit into the cinematic themes of the time. The director manages to show the change in the relationship of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth through the use of colour, lighting, actors’ positions and movement of camera. Macbeth and Noh Theatre Shakespeare introduces Lady Macbeth for the first time in the play reading a letter. In this way, Shakespeare shows that Lady Macbeth is an educated woman as she can read and understand, unlike most women in that 16 th century who mainly cared about their homes. Shakespeare wanted to give the audience a sense that women were starting to change and could take power away from men, as shown in later scenes of the play. In contrast, in Throne of Blood , the first appearance of Lady Macbeth (as named in the movie Asaji ) occurred when she was sitting in a dark room with the lighting on her and the camera in a zoom-out position. Here, Kurosawa wanted to show her sitting on stage and to connect this view to Shakespeare’s play. Also the darkness is represents the world of a Japanese woman whose life was dominated by men. The light here shows that this is an area with borders. She cannot go outside this area. The way she was sitting reflects the traditional Japanese culture dating back 600 years in the Noh theatre. Her unique way of sitting in the movie is derived from Noh. Following Noh theatre traditions, Kurosawa uses a Noh mask to show the female’s role in Japanese culture, as the woman can only change her expression by tilting her head and using a special kind of makeup. This style gives an artistic reflection of Japanese theatre. Kurosawa shows that, by sitting on floor, she does not have any power. If she stands up, then she would show some power as in the second scene when her husband kills the king. Communication between Men and Women In this scene, Shakespeare shows the communication between men and women. When Macbeth starts to talk to his wife he says, “My dearest love….” (Shakespeare 23). Shakespeare shows how men are really kind towards women by saying sensitive words in order to show that in that century women and men in Britain were close to each other. In his movie, however, Kurosawa shows there is a gap between the genders. For example, in first appearance of Lady Macbeth, Macbeth enters the room screaming and full of anger ( Throne of Blood ). The man does not care about his wife’s feelings and it is expected that the woman has to comfort her husband and be submissive. Lady Macbeth in the film does not enter the room as an empowered and educated woman but she is sitting and tolerating her husband’s rage. In this scene, Kurosawa shows how men dominate women and the gap between them. The wife does not try to express her feelings and emotions while her husband is free to behave in any way, for example, he can be furious. It is also suggestive that the man is walking freely while the woman is sitting still and looking in front of her. In this scene, the gap is shown through the picture of the way the man and the wo