Throne of Blood
1st Edition
Published on 1. October 2020
104 pages
978-1-83902-188-6 (ISBN)
Description
Throne of Blood (1957), Akira Kurosawa's reworking of Macbeth, is widely considered the greatest film adaptation of Shakespeare ever made.
In a detailed account of the film, Robert N. Watson explores how Kurosawa draws key philosophical and psychological arguments from Shakespeare, translates them into striking visual metaphors, and inflects them through the history of post-World War II Japan. Watson places particular emphasis on the contexts that underlie the film's central tension between individual aspiration and the stability of broader social and ecological collectives - and therefore between free will and determinism.
In his foreword to this new edition, Robert Watson considers the central characters' Washizu and his wife Asaji's blunder in viewing life as a ruthless competition in which only the most brutal can thrive in the context of an era of neoliberal economics, resurgent 'strongman' political leaders, and myopic views of the environmenal crisis, with nothing valued that cannot be monetized.
In a detailed account of the film, Robert N. Watson explores how Kurosawa draws key philosophical and psychological arguments from Shakespeare, translates them into striking visual metaphors, and inflects them through the history of post-World War II Japan. Watson places particular emphasis on the contexts that underlie the film's central tension between individual aspiration and the stability of broader social and ecological collectives - and therefore between free will and determinism.
In his foreword to this new edition, Robert Watson considers the central characters' Washizu and his wife Asaji's blunder in viewing life as a ruthless competition in which only the most brutal can thrive in the context of an era of neoliberal economics, resurgent 'strongman' political leaders, and myopic views of the environmenal crisis, with nothing valued that cannot be monetized.
More details
Series
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
60 bw illus
ISBN-13
978-1-83902-188-6 (9781839021886)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Robert N. Watson
Throne of Blood
Book
10/2020
2nd Edition
BFI Publishing
€15.50
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Person
Robert N. Watson is Distinguished Professor of English and Associate Dean of Humanities at the University of California, Los Angeles, USA. He is the author of many award-winning books, including Back to Nature: The Green and the Real in the Late Renaissance (2006) and Shakespeare and the Hazards of Ambition (2004), and editor of several volumes of Ben Jonson's plays.
Content
Foreword to the 2020 Edition
Acknowledgments
Introduction
A Guided Tour Through the Spider's Web
Notes
Credits
Acknowledgments
Introduction
A Guided Tour Through the Spider's Web
Notes
Credits
