Don film-maker Akira Kurosawa made Throne of Blood in 1957. Based on Shakespeare's Macbeth but set in feudal Japan, the story itself is utterly archetypal - talented man (in this case, samurai warrior) is encouraged by his conniving wife, who plays on his secret ambition and feeds his ego, manipulating him to murder his way to the top. The end of this story of brutal ambition is never pretty. The rural Japanese setting has a foggy, gloomy beauty, and the ornate military regalia is stunning, especially the headpieces.
One of the most striking scenes takes place in Spiderweb Forest, where the samurai come into a small clearing. In amidst the towering, dense trees, a hunched witchy old woman sits in a little grotto, singing in a croaky, atonal voice:
"Why should men receive life in this world? Men's lives are as meaningless as the lives of insects, the terrible folly of such suffering. A man lives but as briefly as a flower. Destined all too soon to decay into the stink of flesh. Humanity strives all its days to sear its own flesh in the flames of base desire, exposing itself to Fate's Five Calamities, heaping karma upon karma. All that awaits Man at the end of his travails is the stench of rotting flesh that will yet blossom into flower. Its foul odor rendered into sweet perfume. Oh fascinating the life of man. Oh fascinating."
She slowly spins wool on a spindle as she crouches, surrounded by mist. The figure is entirely white, old and fragile looking, face totally expressionless. The menacing otherworldliness is acheived so simply that it actually resonates, the words delivered so calmly they feel like a curse.
She surprises the warriors by addressing them by name, then foretells their futures. She tells Washizu that he will be Lord of Spiderweb Castle, Miki that his son will one day rule. Then she's gone, leaving the men behind.
Before the final stretch of the ride to Spiderweb castle the samurai talk about the spirit-woman, recapping her predictions, laughing at their ridiculousness, but the unconvincing laughter patently rings hollow. They can barely admit it but the men - especially Washizu - have been touched by the power of suggestion. From this point on in the film, all the tragedy, betrayal and disgrace is absolutely inevitable, although it takes the film's Lady Macbeth, Washizu's wife Asaji, to propel him to betray his samurai honour and slay his master.
Her character, portrayed in traditional Japanese Noh theatre convention, has strong parallels with the spirit-woman. Blank face, crouched, formal, deliberate posture and movements, all come together to leave a sense of real horror at her cold and murderous ambition. She's spell-binding in the scene before the murder of Lord Tsuzuki, when we see her calculating drive and focus give her character an incredible strength and power, dark as it is.
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