08/05/2023
film screening and discussion
Throne of Blood
Od–jazd Film Club meeting
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Throne of Blood
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[Kumonosu jô], directed by Akira Kurosawa, Japan 1957, 110'
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- At last, the Japanese Shakespeare of cinema has arrived at the {OD-JAZD} Film Club! Akira Kurosawa, for decades considered one of the giants of cinema alongside Bergman, Buñuel, Fellini and Welles. He was hailed as an absolute filmmaker whose unique ability to “feel” moving images led to one of the most impressive directorial achievements in cinematic history.
- The brave samurai Washizu wants to fulfil a prophecy he heard from a forest spirit, according to which he will become king. However, the road to achieving that goal turns out to be soaked in blood.
- The universality of the story about the destructive force of unbridled ambition, the extraordinary interpretative potential and countless possibilities of adaptation have led to screen adaptations of Shakespeare’s Macbeth all over the world. But Kurosawa’s version proved to be one of the most interesting and important. Thanks to setting the plot in Japan and applying the rules of Nō theatre, the story of Macbeth became a story about revealing human nature, hidden under the mask of rules and conventions, and about the destructive power of fear, which oppresses and leads to inevitable disaster.
- What techniques of adaptation did Kurosawa employ?
- Does Throne of Blood capture the spirit of Shakespearean drama?
- What are the rules of Japanese Nō theatre used in the film?
- We will try to answer these and many other questions together with our club’s expert, professor Olga Katafiasz. We invite you to the screening and discussion, during which you will be able to ask questions and share your ideas on how to interpret the film. What do you think Throne of Blood is about? We want to hear your opinion!
- Prof. Olga Katafiasz
- Theatre and film expert, Dean of the Faculty of Theatre Directing at the AST National Academy of Theatre Arts in Kraków. In the years 1995-2008, she worked at the theatre journal Gazeta Teatralna Didaskalia, where she still regularly publishes essays and reviews. Author of sketches on the relations between literature, theatre and film, and books: Próby wrażliwości. Szekspirowskie ekranizacje Laurence'a Oliviera i Kennetha Branagha [Trials of Sensibility. Shakespearean Screen Adaptations of Laurence Olivier and Kenneth Branagh] (2005), Słownik wiedzy o filmie [Dictionary of Film Knowledge] (with Joanna Wojnicka, 2005, 2008), Krzysztof Globisz. Notatki o skubaniu roli [Krzysztof Globisz. Notes on Plucking a Role] (2010), Shakespeare i kino: strategie adaptacyjne i ich konteksty społeczno-kulturowe [Shakespeare and Cinema: Adaptation Strategies and their Socio-cultural Contexts] (2012). In the series Literatura na ekranie [Literature on Screen], she edited the volume Lustra i echa. Filmowe adaptacje dzieł Williama Shakespeare’a [Mirrors and Echoes. Film Adaptations of the Works of William Shakespeare] (2017). She is currently working on a book about the work of Quentin Tarantino and would take Django Unchained and Hitchcock's Rear Window to a desert island.
- Language
- Film in Japanese
- Lecture and debate in Polish
- Screening as part of Film Club {OD–JAZD}.
- Tickets 5 zł
