Write a large paragraph response for each of the following topics:

  

Write a large paragraph response for each of the following topics:

1. Discuss how Japanese Noh theatrical elements are used in Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood (e.g., music, masking, setting, characterization, acting, movement). How do they contribute to the theme’s “timelessness”? What is that theme?

2. Is Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood a loose adaptation of Macbeth or more an original work of art? Which important elements are retained from Shakespeare’s play and which are modified or deleted? Is the film closer to being an original work of art or is it clearly an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth?

3. Research the historical context of Kurosawa’s 1957 film (Japan after defeat in WWII and after the dropping of a nuclear bomb). In what way do illusions of power drive the monarchs, both in Japan and in Macbeth? Why does Kurosawa choose Shakespeare’s Macbeth to reflect on the historical conditions of his time, and not some other play?