I've never seen a Kurasowa movie. He's good right? I started with Throne of Blood because it was well reviewed, available on Netflix, and under 120 minutes, unlike other options such as Ran and Seven Samurai.
Throne of Blood is an adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth. It's basically the same movie, only set in feudal Japan. If you need a plot recap, attend high school.
My tendency is to dismiss movies before 1970 as boring, which is generally true in my experience. Based on that, and considering I already know the plot, I didn't go in expecting to like the movie, but it's pretty damn well done.
The acting is questionable. The dialog delivery tends to be over-the-top dramatic. For all I know, this could be how feudal Japanese people act, so I'm not going to count that against the film. That said, I found it hard to take the characters seriously at times.
One big plus is the cinematography and production. Looks beautiful. I got invested in the story despite knowing what would happen, which I have to attribute to superior filmmaking and not script. The production reminded me of Bergman's The Seventh Seal. Black and white, long stretches with no dialog, creepy woods containing creepy spirits. Wonder who influenced who there.
The most striking aspect of Throne of Blood is the soundtrack. As in the complete lack of a soundtrack. There's no music. I'm a huge fan of music in movies. It often sways my opinion on mediocre movies (Tron Legacy, Hackers) and pushes great movies over the top (Trainspotting). I was duly shocked to realize the absence of music and recognize how complete silence can ratchet up the intensity and force your attention to the screen.
The total score will be a little lower than I expected. Probably because, as an adaptation, can't give it much credit for writing. I also can't give a 3 for the lack of music, that just seems wrong.
First Viewing: 3+2+2+2+3 = 12