Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Isuzu Yamada, Akira Kubo, Hiroshi Tachikawa, Minoru Chiaki, Takamaru Sasaki. Based on Shakespears's Macbeth. Originally released as a motion picture in 1957. Special features: Commentary (featuring Japanese-film expert Michael Jeck); Akira Kurosawa: it is wonderful to create (documentary on the making of the film, part of the Toho Masterworks series); Trailer; Two alternate English subtitle translations by Japanese-film translator Linda Hoaglund and Kurosawa expert Donald Richie. Booklet featuring essay by film historian Stephen Prince and notes on the subtitling by Hoaglund and Richie.
Summary:
A vivid, visceral Macbeth adaptation, directed by Akira Kurosawa (Seven Samurai), sets Shakespeare's definitive tale of ambition and duplicity in a ghostly, fog-enshrouded landscape in feudal Japan. The film fuses classical Western tragedy with formal elements taken from Noh Theater to create an unforgettable cinematic experience.
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