Double Feature
Throne of Blood
A vivid, visceral Macbeth adaptation, Throne of Blood, directed by Akira Kurosawa, sets Shakespeare’s definitive tale of ambition and duplicity in a ghostly, fog-enshrouded landscape in feudal Japan. As a hardened warrior who rises savagely to power, Toshiro Mifune gives a remarkable, animalistic performance, as does Isuzu Yamada as his ruthless wife. Throne of Blood fuses classical Western tragedy with formal elements taken from Noh theater to create an unforgettable cinematic experience. (Janus Films)
- Director
- Akira Kurosawa
- Writer
- Screenplay by Hideo Oguni & Shinobu Hashimoto & Ryûzô Kikushima & Akira Kurosawa
- Starring
- Toshirô Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Takashi Shimura, Akira Kubo
- Year
- 1957
- Country
- Japan
- Format
- English subtitled 35mm
- Running Time
- 109 minutes
Ugetsu
By the time he made Ugetsu, Kenji Mizoguchi was already an elder statesman of Japanese cinema, fiercely revered by Akira Kurosawa and other directors of a younger generation. And with this exquisite ghost story, a fatalistic wartime tragedy derived from stories by Akinari Ueda and Guy de Maupassant, he created a touchstone of his art, his long takes and sweeping camera guiding the viewer through a delirious narrative about two villagers whose pursuit of fame and fortune leads them far astray from their loyal wives. Moving between the terrestrial and the otherworldly, Ugetsu reveals essential truths about the ravages of war, the plight of women, and the pride of men. (Janus Films)
- Director
- Kenji Mizoguchi
- Starring
- Machiko Kyô, Mitsuko Mito, Kinuyo Tanaka, Masayuki Mori
- Year
- 1953
- Country
- Japan
- Format
- English subtitled 35mm
- Running Time
- 96 minutes