'The Spider Web Castle') is a 1957 Japanese jidaigeki film co-written, produced, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya.

The film transposes the plot of English dramatist William Shakespeare's play Macbeth (1606) from Medieval Scotland to feudal Japan, with stylistic elements drawn from Noh drama.

Kurosawa was a fan of the play and intended to make his own adaptation for several years, delaying it after learning of Orson Welles' Macbeth (1948).

[1] Despite the change in setting and language and numerous creative liberties, Throne of Blood is often considered one of the best film adaptations of the classic play, and has received much critical praise.

[3] Generals Miki and Washizu are samurai commanders and friends under Tsuzuki, a local lord who reigns in the castle of the Spider's Web Forest.

On their way through the thick forest, they encounter a spirit who foretells their future, informing them that Washizu will be named Lord of the Northern Garrison and Miki will become commander of the first fortress that day.

Later, Washizu's men are beginning to doubt and fear him, and rumors circulate that Miki's son Yoshiteru, Kunimaru, and Noriyasu have joined forces with their onetime rival Inui.

In her quarters, he finds Asaji in a semi-catatonic state, trying to wash clean an imaginary stain and stench of blood from her hands.

[13] William Shakespeare's plays had been read in Japan since the Meiji Restoration in 1868,[12] though banned during World War II for not being Japanese.

When he learned that Orson Welles had released his own version of Macbeth in 1948, Kurosawa decided to postpone his adaptation project for several years.

[15] Kurosawa believed that Scotland and Japan in the Middle Ages shared social problems and that these had lessons for the present day.

[23] The castle courtyard was constructed at Toho's Tamagawa studio, with volcanic soil brought from Fuji so that the ground matched.

I had decided that I wanted lots of fog for this film... Making the set was very difficult because we didn't have enough people and the location was so far from Tokyo.

"[24][25]Production designer Yoshirō Muraki said the crew opted to employ the color black in the set walls, and a lot of armor, to complement the mist and fog effects.

[26] The scene in which trees from the Spider's Web Forest approach the castle, was created by Toho's special effects department and directed by Eiji Tsuburaya.

Olivier told Kurosawa that he had enjoyed watching the film and was impressed by the scene in which Toshiro Mifune's Macbeth is shot by arrows.

The site's consensus states: "A career high point for Akira Kurosawa – and one of the best film adaptations of a Shakespeare play.

"[41] When it was released in the United States in 1961, the Time review praised Kurosawa and the film as "a visual descent into the hell of greed and superstition".

[49] Sylvan Barnet writes it captured Macbeth as a strong warrior, and that "Without worrying about fidelity to the original," Throne of Blood is "much more satisfactory" than most Shakespeare films.

[50] Film historian David A. Conrad wrote that just as Shakespeare's play commented on "questions of legitimacy, masculinity, and civil war" that resonated in early 17th-century England, Kurosawa's movie engages with contemporary Japanese debates about the "spiderless cobweb" of postwar bureaucracy and industry.

[56] Roman Polanski's 1971 film version of Macbeth has similarities to Throne of Blood, in shots of characters on twisted roads, set design, and music to identify locations and psychological conditions.

In 1985, Kurosawa returned to adapting Shakespeare, choosing the play King Lear for his final epic film Ran, and again moving the setting to feudal Japan.