Transposing a story from one culture to another is never easy, as has been proven throughout history by fairy tales taken from other areas of the world and brought to America by companies such as Disney. Over the years this nation has seen the mutilation of beautiful tragedies such as Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Little Mermaid,” for example. There are exceptions to this, however, as is shown by Akira Kurosawa’s Japanese adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Due to his awe-inspiring directorial skills, he was able to morph the tale of the 16th century Scottish warlords into the form of the samurai warriors of feudal Japan.
He stripped from Shakespeare’s tale the universal messages of man and placed them in an entirely new setting, and added traditional Japanese elements to the story. Moods were conveyed through the use of heavy fog, imagery very apparent in Shakespeare’s own version, as well as with the flutes of Noh, a traditional, exaggerated style of Japanese theater. The ingredient of the Noh flutes certainly brought the play nearer to Japanese culture, which in turn made it more believable in its new setting.
Kurosawa also dressed the players in the costume of the ancient samurai warriors, including the various-sized lunar disks on the helmets, katana swords, and the uniquely designed armor. Characters such as Lady Asaji, who are dressed in timely garb and makeup that display everyday styles for noble women, add to the vividness of the film. The theme from the actual play written by Shakespeare reflects a core value in Japanese society, which probably made it easier for Kurosawa to film a Japanese adaptation.
This core value is the notion that personal ambition and pride are negative attributes. For Macbeth, his ambition led to the betrayal and murder of Duncan, Banquo, Macduff’s wife and children, and even such minor characters as the guards outside Duncan’s room during his stay at Dunsinane. Washizu, Macbeth’s Japanese counterpart, made the same mistakes that Shakespeare’s character did. When the spirit in the forest, the representation of the weird sisters, gave her prophecy to he and Miki, Washizu immediately began the same downward spiral that Macbeth made.
Washizu seemed much less willing at the start than Macbeth did, but eventually the immorality reached even his core. The evil brought on by the ambition, the sheer insanity, led to a psychotic break for both Lady Macbeth and her Japanese equivalent, Lady Asaji. Personally, I found that Lady Asaji’s display during the hand-cleansing scene was much more effective than the written one that Lady Macbeth was given. She was huddled over an empty bowl, hallucinating both the blood and the water she was using to wash it away, rather than actually washing her hands.
This immediately made it clear that Lady Asaji had abandoned her senses and mind for a world of utter darkness, guilt, and psychosis. Lady Asaji’s character also made Washizu’s capitulation more believable than Macbeth’s was because she appeared to be malevolent from the first. She behaved as a Japanese noblewoman would have been expected to at the time, but there was a characteristic in her mannerisms that conveyed the role she would play later in the film. She spoke in even, rational tones, and directly influenced Washizu’s will much more than Lady Macbeth swayed her lord’s.
Where Lady Macbeth had been subtle, Lady Asaji was quite blunt and concise, which really conveyed the weakness in Lord Macbeth’s character that Shakespeare seemed almost reluctant to depict. The final scene of Kurosawa’s version is also quite memorable. As opposed to having Macduff’s counterpart act as the catalyst for Washizu’s demise, Washizu’s own soldiers turn on him, riddling his body with arrows. For a ruling samurai, or shogun, this would be the ultimate symbol of defeat.
Toshiro Mifune, the actor that portrayed Washizu and a recurrent performer in Kurosawa films, actually allowed for off-screen archers to shoot arrows within inches of his body in order to capture the terror that Washizu would have experienced. Kurosawa was completely successful in adapting the British play for a Japanese culture and audience. Before the film was over, it had been proven time and again that Akira Kurosawa not only substantiated William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, but that perhaps Kurosawa breathed life into the play that Shakespeare and, later, his supporters had never been able to.
