The Dryden will screen Kumonosu-jô (Throne of Blood, Akira Kurosawa, Japan 1957, 110 min., 35mm, Japanese w/subtitles).

Throne of Blood draws on key philosophical and psychological arguments from Shakespeare's Macbeth to present an ambitious synthesis of diverse cultural, aesthetic, and historical sources. In feudal Japan, General Taketoki Washizu (Toshiro Mifune) is the unrepentant warrior analogue to the famed Scottish lord whose ambition leads to despair. Isuzu Yamada blazes as Asaji, the taunting wife seeking power. Exempted from linguistic constraints, Throne of Blood is less an adaptation than a total transmutation that recasts the spirit of Shakespeare's blood-soaked poetry into powerful visual references to the aesthetics of traditional Noh theatre. The stark countryside, maze-like woodlands, looming castle, and a stunning use of arrows in the unforgettable conclusion provide an eerie atmosphere of inevitable evil and peril. The two cultural strains from which it emerges interlock in unexpected ways in this truly mesmerizing epic that ultimately stands on its own as an underrated masterpiece.

[source: George Eastman Museum website, 2016-Jun-20]