History Film / ThroneOfBlood

* FallenHero: Washizu.

* HenpeckedHusband: Washizu, possibly even more than Theatre/{{Macbeth}}.

* LadyMacbeth: Asaji (not surprising, since she's based on the TropeNamer).

* OutDamnedSpot: Isuzu Yamada does a terrific mad scene where she sits in a trance, trying to wash imaginary blood off her hands.

* UnholyMatrimony: Taketoki and Asaji Washizu.

* VillainousBreakdown: Both the Washizus have this happen to them. After being convinced by his wife to murder Lord Tsuzuki, the husband, Taketoki, becomes increasingly paranoid and starts seeing hallucinations, while the wife herself, Asaji, completely snaps and is last seen [[OutDamnedSpot trying to clean the stench of nonexistent blood off her hands]]. Being as this is ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'' [[RecycledInSpace WITH SAMURAI]], this was very much intentional.

* AdaptationalVillainy:
** Tsuzuki, the King Duncan analogue, is presented as being an usurper who deposed the previous lord and isn't that different from Washizu, as his wife insists.
** Both Washizu and his wife, Lord and Lady Macbeth, are shown having a colder marriage in the film, when in the Shakespeare original, they have a loving marriage, and indeed are arguably the happiest married couple in Shakespeare. The "Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow" speech is AdaptedOut, and Washizu doesn't lament how terrible it is that he can't grieve for her.

* DemotedToExtra: Macduff's counterpart Noriyasu is not nearly as important. Washizu never targets his family and so never faces him. At most Noriyasu is the second-in-command of Kuniharu.

[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/throneofblood_8294.jpg]]

*** In turn, Washizu's manic energy also tended to be a trait of Hideyoshi in fiction (not to mention that Washizu having his successors (the Mikis) killed is sometjing [[TruthInTelevision Hideyoshi actually did]] to [[https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=nofUu5tvJ18C&pg=PA118&lpg=PA118&dq=hidetsugu+tomb+of+traitors&source=bl&ots=ltEsTS6YXI&sig=ACfU3U11Dj79ZM8CWAXLQyL4LU82pg-Nlw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi5g-rrr-H2AhW2k1YBHXHFAzEQ6AF6BAgcEAM#v=onepage&q=hidetsugu%20tomb%20of%20traitors&f=false his nephew Hidetsugu and his whole family]]).

''Throne of Blood'' (''Kumonosu Jō'', "Spider Web Castle"), is a 1957 film by Creator/AkiraKurosawa, and is Kurosawa's version of ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}''. It stars Creator/ToshiroMifune as Washizu, a Japanese warlord who meets a strange spirit who gives him some dark ideas about taking the place of his lord. Kurosawa fuses Creator/WilliamShakespeare's plot with elements from Noh theater, and sets the story at an unspecified time and place in [[JidaiGeki Sengoku-era Japan]]. The [[NoManOfWomanBorn Macduff]] subplot is left out, leading to a different, but more thematic end for the Macbeth figure.

* NonIndicativeName: You might think ''Throne of Blood'' would feature a CoolChair, stained (perhaps metaphorically) by Kunimara's blood, but since chairs aren't commonly used in Japan, the idea of a throne isn't really present in the culture either.

* TitleDrop: Of the Japanese title, of course, several times.

** Washizu can be seen as a CompositeCharacter of UsefulNotes/AkechiMitsuhide (who turned traitor against his lord, UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga) and UsefulNotes/ToyotomiHideyoshi (Nobunaga's general, who rose out of obscurity as a mere foot soldier to rule Japan after Nobunaga's death). Washizu's manic energy also tended to be a trait of Hideyoshi in fiction; Mitsuhide, much like Washizu, would himself be betrayed and killed by his inferiors when things go south for him.

** Washizu can be seen as a CompositeCharacter of UsefulNotes/AkechiMitsuhide (who turned traitor against his lord, UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga) and UsefulNotes/ToyotomiHideyoshi(Nobunaga's general, who rose out of obscurity as a mere foot soldier to rule Japan after Nobunaga's death). Washizu's manic energy also tended to be a trait of Hideyoshi in fiction; Mitsuhide, much like Washizu, would himself be betrayed and killed by his inferiors when things go south for him.

* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Washizu can be seen as a CompositeCharacter of Akechi Mitsuhide (who turned traitor against his lord, Oda Nobunaga) and Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Nobunaga's general, who rose out of obscurity as a mere foot soldier to rule Japan after Nobunaga's death), while Miki is Tokugawa Ieyasu (who ended the Sengoku era and founded the last shogunate)

** Tsuzuki, the King Duncan analogue, is presented as being an usurper who deposed the previous lord and isn't that different from Washizu, as his wife insists. This is also true of the historical Duncan, interestingly enough, although the detail doesn't make it into the Shakespeare play.

Kurosawa would release two more films based on Shakespeare's tragedies: ''Film/TheBadSleepWell'', a much looser adaptation of ''Film/{{Hamlet}}'', and ''Film/{{Ran}}'', which transplants ''Theatre/KingLear'' in this case) to Sengoku Japan just as ''Throne of Blood'' did for ''Macbeth''.

''Throne of Blood'' (''Kumonosu Jō'', "Spider Web Castle"), is a 1957 film by Creator/AkiraKurosawa, and is Kurosawa's version of ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}''. It stars Creator/ToshiroMifune as Washizu, a Japanese warlord who meets a strange spirit who gives him some dark ideas about taking the place of his lord. Kurosawa fuses [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare Shakespeare]]'s plot with elements from Noh theater, and sets the story at an unspecified time and place in [[JidaiGeki Sengoku-era Japan]]. The [[NoManOfWomanBorn Macduff]] subplot is left out, leading to a different, but more thematic end for the Macbeth figure.

In 2010, the film was adapted as a play for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

See also ''Film/{{Ran}}'', another film in which Kurosawa adapted Shakespeare (''Theatre/KingLear'' in this case) to Sengoku Japan, and ''Film/TheBadSleepWell'', Kurosawa's much looser adaptation of ''Film/{{Hamlet}}''.

See also ''Film/{{Ran}}'', another film in which Kurosawa adapted Shakespeare (''Theatre/KingLear'' in this case) to Sengoku Japan.

See also ''Film/{{Ran}}'', another film in which Kurosawa adapted Shakespeare to Sengoku Japan.

** Tsuzuki, the King Duncan analogue, is presented as being an usurper who deposed the previous lord and is NotSoDifferent from Washizu, as his wife insists. This is also true of the historical Duncan, interestingly enough, although the detail doesn't make it into the Shakespeare play.

** Tsuzuki, the King Duncan analogue, is presented as being an usurper who deposed the previous lord and is NotSoDifferent from Washizu, as his wife insists.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Washizu can be seen as a CompositeCharacter of Akechi Mitsuhide (who turned traitor against his lord, Oda Nobunaga) and Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Nobunaga's general, who rose out of obscurity as a mere foot soldier to rule Japan after Nobunaga's death), while Miki is Tokugawa Ieyasu (who ended the Sengoku era and founded the last shogunate)

->''If you choose the path of bloodshed, then climb to the pinnacle of evil!''
->''If you choose to build a mountain of corpses, build its summit as high as you dare!''
->''If you will make blood flow, let it be a river – no, an ocean of blood!''
-->-- The Forest Spirit, to Washizu

* ProphecyTwist: Lacks the NoManOfWomanBorn bit, Macduff being AdaptedOut, but keeps the MobileShrubbery. Washizu believes he's invulnerable until the forest comes to the castle, per the witch's prophecy. When the forest actually does appear to come to the castle, his men mutiny and kill him.

* HeirClubForMen: Washizu is perfectly happy to have Miki's son as his heir, until Lady Asaji reveals she is pregnant.

* OminousFog: In spades. Washizu and Miki get lost in such a fog before finding the evil spirit in the woods.

* RasputinianDeath: Washizu takes at least 20 arrows to the chest and still tries to walk and fight, finally falling to an over-dramatic arrow through the neck.

** BiggerBad: The mysterious witch in the forest manipulates ''everyone''.

* DrivenToSuicide: Averted, actually. The last scene with Asaji (Lady Macbeth) is the "out, damned spot" scene, and there is no exposition in the play indicating that she has killed herself.

* [[OminousLatinChanting Ominous Japanese Chanting]]: A song by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XWogmntJls an ominous-sounding chorus]] bookends the film, telling of how a mighty castle once stood on a now-blasted landscape, before being brought down by the corruption of those who lived in it.

%%* ProphecyTwist

%%* {{Samurai}}

%%* {{Tragedy}}

%%* VillainProtagonist
* VillainousBreakdown: Both the Washizus have this happen to them in ''Film/ThroneOfBlood''. After being convinced by his wife to murder Lord Tsuzuki, the husband, Taketoki, becomes increasingly paranoid and starts seeing hallucinations, while the wife herself, Asaji, completely snaps and is last seen [[OutDamnedSpot trying to clean the stench of nonexistent blood off her hands]]. Being as this is ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'' [[RecycledInSpace WITH SAMURAI]], this was very much intentional.

* {{Youkai}}: The film exchanges ''Macbeth'''s Birnam Wood for Spider's Web Forest, possibly invoking these creatures from Japanese folklore.

* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: Sometimes the Japanese title is translated as "Cobweb Castle" ("cob" is archaic English for spider).

** Tsuzuki, the King Duncan analogue, is presented as being an usurper who deposed the previous lord and is NotSoDifferent from Washizu, as his wife insists. Ironically, the historical Duncan actually killed his predecessor, his own grandfather no less.

* VillainousBreakdown: Both the Washizus have this happen to him in ''Film/ThroneOfBlood''. After being convinced by his wife to murder Lord Tsuzuki, the husband, Taketoki, becomes increasingly paranoid and starts seeing hallucinations, while the wife herself, Asaji, completely snaps and is last seen [[OutDamnedSpot trying to clean the stench of nonexistent blood off her hands]]. Being as this is ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'' [[RecycledInSpace WITH SAMURAI]], this was very much intentional.

* SlidingScaleOfFreeWillVsFate: Washizu is caught up in a prophecy that he can't avoid, from the moment he is given the title of Lord of North Castle, as well as in a cycle of KlingonPromotion a, given that Lord Tsuzuki had killed his previous lord to aquire his position. At the same time, he is given choices, whether or not to dispose of his trusted allies, and he picks the wrong decision each time, because he's so weak at the hands of his wife.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Washizu can be seen as a CompositeCharacter of Mituhide Akechi (who turned traitor against his lord) and Hideyoshi Toyotomi (who rose out of obscurity as a mere foot soldier to rule Japan), while Miki is Tokugawa Ieyasu (who ended the Sengoku era and founded the last shogunate)