Shetland Film Club continues its Shakespeare on Screen season at Walls Hall on Sunday 30th January at 4.00pm with Throne of Blood, Akira Kurosawa's 1957 interpretation of 'Macbeth'.
Kurosawa sets his tale in mediaeval Japan, where warring shoguns struggle for power. After securing a great military victory on behalf of the Emperor, Lord Washizu (played by Kurosawa regular, Toshiro Mifune) and his friend Miki get lost in the great Cobweb Forest. There they meet a spirit witch who prophesies that Washizu will become emperor, but that Miki's descendants will rule thereafter. Although they initially dismiss the prophesy, Washizu, egged on by his wife, determines that he will make it come true by killing the Emperor when he comes to stay in their castle.
The production, widely viewed as an authentic classic, is inspired by a traditional form of Japanese theatre known as 'Noh', and is not the only one of Kurosawa's films to be based on the works of Shakespeare. Nearly thirty years after Throne of Blood he was to make Ran, a re-working of 'King Lear'.
The Shakespeare on Screen Season is supported by the Shetland Arts Fund and by Shetland Islands Council Adult Learning.
The film carries a 15 certificate, and tickets, costing £4 and £3, are available at the door.
