Apart from this the Zen-Buddhist elements, which the chants of the evil spirit personates, bring something unique in the play with their rejection of human life as evil, brief and miserable; not to mention the amazing way in which Kurosawa does make his movies! The camera is nothing but an invisible observer and the scene is not enacted for it but it observes it without being noticed by the actors, while in many commercial flicks the overpaid actors worship it and destroy all movie illusions!
Monsieur Kurosawa is even able to fix the tragic flaw, as the tragedies of Shakespeare lack somewhat the tragic essence, as it is found in the Greek tragedies, in which the humans are cast into destruction, guilt and despair by the Gods and Fate, while in Shakespeare the humans are guilty alone and know of it before; like Macbeth does contemplate the fell consequences of his deed before and still commits it due to his lust for power, but not here: The hero kills his prince out of fear.
Kurosawa and Shakespeare are usually an excellent combination and it is great pity that Monsieur Kurosawa did not transfer much more of Shakespeare’s plays to Japan! His versions of Macbeth and King Lear are brilliant; especially when he has his dramatic minion Monsieur Mifune with him to enact his Samurai tales; though I am normally a Shakespeare purist and demand full text and Medieval or Renaissance costumes I adore his Japanese versions due to his rearrangement of them!
Apart from this the Zen-Buddhist elements, which the chants of the evil spirit personates, bring something unique in the play with their rejection of human life as evil, brief and miserable; not to mention the amazing way in which Kurosawa does make his movies! The camera is nothing but an invisible observer and the scene is not enacted for it but it observes it without being noticed by the actors, while in many commercial flicks the overpaid actors worship it and destroy all movie illusions!
FireEyedMaidOfWar 7 months ago
Monsieur Kurosawa is even able to fix the tragic flaw, as the tragedies of Shakespeare lack somewhat the tragic essence, as it is found in the Greek tragedies, in which the humans are cast into destruction, guilt and despair by the Gods and Fate, while in Shakespeare the humans are guilty alone and know of it before; like Macbeth does contemplate the fell consequences of his deed before and still commits it due to his lust for power, but not here: The hero kills his prince out of fear.
FireEyedMaidOfWar 7 months ago
Kurosawa and Shakespeare are usually an excellent combination and it is great pity that Monsieur Kurosawa did not transfer much more of Shakespeare’s plays to Japan! His versions of Macbeth and King Lear are brilliant; especially when he has his dramatic minion Monsieur Mifune with him to enact his Samurai tales; though I am normally a Shakespeare purist and demand full text and Medieval or Renaissance costumes I adore his Japanese versions due to his rearrangement of them!
FireEyedMaidOfWar 7 months ago