BAM will be screening Kurosawa’s THRONE OF BLOOD in conjunction with the New York premiere of Ping Chong’s theatrical adaptation as part of the Next Wave Festival
THRONE OF BLOOD, AKA MACBETH (KUMONOSU JÔ) (Akira Kurosawa, 1957)
BAMcinématek
30 Lafayette Ave. between Ashland Pl. & St. Felix St.
Wednesday, November 3, 4:30 & 9:30
Thursday, November 4, 4:30, 6:50, 9:10
718-636-4100
www.bam.org
Akira Kurosawa’s marvelous reimagining of MACBETH is an intense psychological thriller that follows one man’s descent into madness. Following a stunning military victory led by Washizu (Toshirô Mifune) and Miki (Minoru Chiaki), the two men are rewarded with lofty new positions. As Washizu’s wife, Asaji (Isuzu Yamada, with spectacular eyebrows), fills her husband’s head with crazy paranoia, Washizu is haunted by predictions made by a ghostly evil spirit in the Cobweb Forest, leading to one of the all-time classic finales. Featuring exterior scenes bathed in mysterious fog, interior long shots of Washizu and Asaji in a large, sparse room carefully considering their next bold move, and composer Masaru Sato’s shrieking Japanese flutes, THRONE OF BLOOD is a chilling drama of corruptive power and blind ambition, one of the greatest adaptations of Shakespeare ever put on film. BAMcinématek is screening the film in conjunction with the centennial of Kurosawa’s birth and the Next Wave Festival presentation of Ping Chong’s theatrical version of THRONE OF BLOOD, running at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House November 10-13. The film series continues with KAGEMUSHA on November 5, THE HIDDEN FORTRESS on November 6, YOJIMBO on November 7, SANJURO on November 14, and RAN on November 21.