Word: macbeths
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Though "based on" Macbeth, Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood retains only the psychology and basic plot. Gone is the poetry (at least for someone following the subtitles, which frequently achieve complete unintelligibility) and the primitive Scottish setting (replaced by medieval Japan, with its ritual, mounted warriors, and fog-shrouded plains). Throne of Blood--the only other title that the distributors came up with was the equally unhappy Castle of the Spider's Web--may well be closer to a redramatization of Holinshed than an adaptation of Shakespeare. But it is, however classified, a stunningly effective work...
Made in 1957, this samurai Macbeth offers new insights into character and motivation as well as preserving the wild atmosphere of the original. When Macbeth returns from murdering the King, Lady Macbeth must pry his clenched fingers off the bloody spear--and it is with such moments that Kurosawa shows the eloquence of simple action. The classic scenes and images neither fall flat nor stick out as irrelevant set-pieces. The haggish forest spirit who replaces the Weird Sisters is as eery as they, with her boomy, slowed-down voice. Macduff's advancing army, seen through Fuji's mists, really...
VERDI: LA FORZA DEL DESTINO (RCA Victor; 4 LPs). Schippers again, but without the imagination he gives to Macbeth. He just keeps things going along and lets his experienced performers (Leontyne Price, Richard Tucker, Giorgio Tozzi) take over. Price is at her very best. Her voice magnifies Verdi's intent and makes every hoary old aria sound as if it were written yesterday. Tucker at 50 gives every indication that he can go on singing forever-a cheering prospect. Only Tozzi is disappointing. His voice sounds dry, and he does the role of the padre like a priest droning...
When Banquo (Richard Blau) and Macbeth (John Lithgow) first appear, for instance, they stand so close together as to be actually touching. After the salutation of the weird sisters Banquo always stands across the stage from Macbeth. That last is simple enough. It was their extreme closeness at first that was so good, both because they had just returned from fighting side by side in a battle, and because when they do draw apart at the witches' greeting it as if the better and the evil part of one-man were differentiating themselves...
...acting of the leads is uniformly superb. But even here, I think it was this particular form of production that focused their various excellences. Laura Esterman, who played Lady Macbeth, used her rich voice to the full, and to telling effect...