For anyone who's familiar with Shakespeare's Macbeth, there's no need to go in length with the plot detail. Kurosawa has adapted the story quite faithfully. Toshiro Mifune was, and still is, one of the most spell-binding performers ever to grace the cinema. To watch him act is riveting, and he is especially great in films like Yojimbo and Sanjuro.
But I'm very disturbed by some of the reviews here, as I found a lot of ignorance. Exaggerated acting??? What a bunch of hogwash. Anybody who's knowledgeable in arthouse films KNOWS that the three major asian nations - China, Japan, and Korea respectively - have an ancient and deeply held tradition of stylised opera acting, which explains the difference with Hollywood acting that's rooted in Stanislavsky's method that embraces realism & experience. Please people, get your facts straightened out - and watch more movies and educate yourselves. Also, to call Kurosawa as a "cold" director is totally unjustified, as the director is a staunch humanist. Obviously those people have not seen Seven Samurai and Ikiru, the latter film is especially one of the most moving story about humanity's downfall. One very good example of a director with a "cold" directing approach would be Stanley Kubrick. There is a difference!
All in all, this movie is really good, and gives an interesting Japanese angle to a literary classic.
But I'm very disturbed by some of the reviews here, as I found a lot of ignorance. Exaggerated acting??? What a bunch of hogwash. Anybody who's knowledgeable in arthouse films KNOWS that the three major asian nations - China, Japan, and Korea respectively - have an ancient and deeply held tradition of stylised opera acting, which explains the difference with Hollywood acting that's rooted in Stanislavsky's method that embraces realism & experience. Please people, get your facts straightened out - and watch more movies and educate yourselves. Also, to call Kurosawa as a "cold" director is totally unjustified, as the director is a staunch humanist. Obviously those people have not seen Seven Samurai and Ikiru, the latter film is especially one of the most moving story about humanity's downfall. One very good example of a director with a "cold" directing approach would be Stanley Kubrick. There is a difference!
All in all, this movie is really good, and gives an interesting Japanese angle to a literary classic.