THRONE OF BLOOD
Produced by KUROSAWA AKIRA, MOTOKI SOJIRO
Written by KUROSAWA AKIRA, HASHIMOTO SHINOBU,
KIKUSHIMA RYUZO and OGUNI HIDEO
Photographed by NAKAI ASAICHI
Lighting by KISHID AKUICHIRO
Art Direction by EZAKI KOHEI and MURAKI YOSHIRO
Sound Recording by YANOGUCHI FUMIO
Music by SATO MASARU
Production Supervisor NEZU HIROSHI
With
MIFUNE TOSHIRO YAMAD A ISUZU
SHIMURA TAKASHI KUBO AKIRA
TACHIKA WAYOICHI CHIAKI MINORU
SASAKI TAKAMARU NANIWA CHIEKO
KIMURA ISAO MIYAGUCHI SEIJI
Directed by KUROSAWA AKIRA
Behold, within this place
Now desolated, stood
Once a mighty fortress
Lived a proud warrior
Murdered by ambition
His spirit walking still
Vain pride, then as now, will
Lead ambition to the kill
The North Castle has revolted.
The renegades at once set fire to Forts Four and Five.
And Fort Three?
It too was not prepared.
Fort Two?
Captain Yoshiaki Miki combined forces with Fort Three.
They are defending as best they can.
And Fort One?
Captain Taketoki Washizu,
after Forts Four and Five had fallen,
was surrounded by hundreds of rebels.
They were men of Lord Inui.
So it was he who instigated the revolt.
And Captain Washizu - is there any hope?
None.
Attend to him.
What to do?
Shall we attack or stand a siege?
We cannot leave the castle.
To attack now would be to lose. The enemy is winning.
But place our men in the forest...
It is a natural labyrinth,
and the enemy will lose themselves.
We will ambush and retreat.
There is no other way.
The supplies are barely enough for a three-month siege.
Sir!
A messenger from Fort Two!
Sir! I bring good news.
Captain Yoshiaki Miki has fought well. The enemy is halted.
And Captain Taketoki Washizu has broken Inui's siege
and come to Miki's aid.
Brave Washizu!
The enemy is fleeing,
and now we are the winners.
Sir! Captains Washizu and Miki have pushed the rebels back to the North Castle,
and now it is besieged.
Fujimaki begs to surrender. In apology he offers to shave his head.
His offer is not accepted.
Noriyasu!
Go to the North Castle.
Kill the traitor!
Make certain that Inui will not again invade.
Then tell Washizu and Miki to come here at once.
This weather - never have I seen the like of it.
Hurry! His Lordship awaits us.
This is where we stopped a moment ago.
Yes. Look at the hoof prints.
Are you certain this is His Lordship's forest?
I am.
Then the castle is not far away.
Yet, for hours we have been in the forest.
Yes. This is a real labyrinth.
Here the enemy would lose its way and would never find our castle.
So they would, but we know every trail.
An evil spirit - a spirit of the forest is holding us here.
I, with my spear, will break through.
And I, with my bow.
What is that?
Was there a hut here before?
No, not that I know of.
The evil spirit's, perhaps.
My horse has never been so frightened.
Men are vain and death is long
And pride dies first within the grave
For hair and nails are growing still
When face and fame are gone
Nothing in this world will save
Or measure up man's actions here
Nor in the next, for there is none
This life must end in fear
Only evil may maintain
An afterlife for those who will
Who love this world, who have no son,
To whom ambition calls
Even so, this false fame falls
Death will reign; man dies in vain
Who are you? Are you human - or a spirit?
You can sing - you must be able to speak.
Most honored Captain Washizu,
commander of the First Fort.
What? Do you know me?
Today you will become master of the North Castle.
Master of the castle?
And one day you will become the Lord of Forest Castle itself.
Enough! That is His Lordship's!
Are you angered by this prophecy?
Would you not want to be ruler of the forest?
The ruler of the forest is His Lordship.
You humans! Never will I comprehend you.
You are afraid of your desires - you try to hide them.
Wait!
Whatever this woman may be,
she would not risk your anger for nothing.
I will talk to her.
Can you see the future as plainly as I see you?
Honorable Captain Miki,
yours is the Second Fort.
Today you will command Fort One.
And after that?
Your luck turns slowly,
but it lasts much longer than that of Captain Washizu.
What do you mean?
You have a son.
It is he who will become Lord of Forest Castle.
There is the castle.
And finally we have come out of the forest.
I am tired.
My armor has become heavy on me.
And so it should.
You have worn out three horses since yesterday.
Let us rest.
My only wish would be a long, quiet sleep.
I feel I am already sleeping and have had a frightening dream.
What that witch or spirit said,
that is what I dream of.
We dream of what we wish.
What warrior would not want to be lord of a mighty castle?
She said your son would rule Forest Castle.
Yes, but only after you.
And that first I would become master of the North Castle.
And I would take command of Fort One.
We are fortunate!
What were you going to say?
You spoke first.
Suppose...
I am given North Castle today, and you, Fort One...
In honor of those distinguished services rendered by Washizu...
he shall from today be master of North Castle.
Miki...
who fought no less bravely...
shall take immediate command of Fort One.
How peaceful!
Yes, peaceful and quiet.
North Castle is a paradise after life in the forest.
We are fortunate to serve him.
Our lord and lady must be very happy.
Have you decided, my lord?
It was only a nightmare...
caused by evil spirits. I will...
consider it no more!
To rule over Forest Castle! I cannot dream of such a...
Why not, my lord? It is not beyond your power.
What warrior would not want to be lord of a mighty castle?
No, I am satisfied with myself as I am.
I will rule this castle and remain loyal to His Lordship.
I would live in peace.
But there can be no peace.
If Miki were to tell His Lordship of what happened in the forest...
then here there would be no peace.
His Lordship would think of you as a traitor.
At once he would have men besiege our castle here.
You must choose between the two...
stay here and await your own destruction,
or kill His Lordship and make Forest Castle yours.
But that is high treason!
Do you forget
that he murdered his own master to become what he is now?
It was necessary - to save his own life.
His Lordship trusts me.
I would tear out my heart for him.
And does he know what lies in that heart?
In my heart?
There is nothing.
I know otherwise.
I have no such ambitions.
This may be so,
but would His Lordship believe it
after Miki had informed him of this interesting prophecy?
Miki would never speak of it. He is my best friend.
He is ambitious.
Children kill their parents for less.
This is a wicked world. To save yourself you often first must kill.
It is possible that Miki has already betrayed you.
I fear this.
Asaji! We must have faith in friends.
Sir, men from Forest Castle are coming from the hill at the rear.
They were hiding among the hills and woods surrounding the castle.
They are men from Forest Castle.
Their spears and banners are lowered and they are coming this way.
Lord Washizu of North Castle!
His Lordship is on his way here.
Sir, His Lordship is coming!
Men, come out!
Do not call your men,
and do not receive him in state.
His Lordship is on a hunting trip.
Permit me to congratulate your excellent hunting, sir.
The hunting is a pretense.
I wish to attack Inui and take him by surprise.
He must be punished.
I had wanted to attack after the rebellion, then decided to wait.
Now I am ready. This castle shall be my headquarters.
We will march our troops to the border and scatter the enemy.
This must be kept a secret, however.
I will reward you with honorable posts.
Let Washizu lead the attack and Miki hold my castle.
Asaji!
You could not now be so suspicious...
now that you see how he trusts me.
In doubting Miki you have shown yourself bewitched by this evil spirit.
Allow me to disagree.
His Lordship trusts me more than anyone else.
And that is why he has given me the honor of leading the attack.
Where arrows will find you not only from the front but from the rear.
His Lordship has thought well.
He has already taken this castle from you.
Miki is the keeper of Forest Castle.
Miki is his favorite. He must face no danger.
But you, my lord. You must not remain alive.
Miki will be watching from the tower.
He will enjoy watching you die without realizing the truth.
We work here, sir.
No one may approach His Lordship's chamber.
You may go no further.
We do not go to His Lordship's chamber, sir, but to the forbidden room.
Where the traitorous rebel leader killed himself.
We had washed the floor, yet the blood remained. So we closed the room.
Then why do you go there now?
We must open it so that our master may sleep there.
I understand. You may go.
I have fought in many battles and have seen blood...
yet this stain horrifies me.
Because this is the blood of a dog, the blood of a despised traitor.
He was a coward too.
Cried for mercy after his revolt was over.
The crows caw - an ill omen.
You say that I am suspicious.
Yet I believe firmly in that prophecy.
But open your eyes and look.
The stage is yours.
There would be no difficulty in your making this prophecy true.
Have you no eyes?
His Lordship has placed himself in your hands.
Now is your chance. It will never come again.
But... this would be an act of highest treason.
And afterwards, what then?
His Lordship trusts you, you say.
But the guards are Noriyasu's men, and this is all the better.
I will give the guards drugged wine,
and when they fall asleep, you will kill him.
The blame will be placed upon Noriyasu and his men.
Listen, even the crow is saying:
The throne is yours.
That is what it says.
Without ambition, man is not a man.
And after this, Forest Castle,
then you may well hope to rule the entire country.
The room is ready, my lady.
Tell me, what are the guards doing now?
Keeping watch, my lady, with their spears ready.
Admirable.
I will take them some wine.
Murder!
His Lordship has been slain!
Traitor!
Let me go, Noriyasu.
Calm yourself. We must return to the castle at once.
Washizu is the traitor.
I must avenge my father.
Master Kunimaru! Washizu could kill us all.
Never mind the others. Find Noriyasu. He is the traitor.
Where is Noriyasu?
He has escaped, sir.
He has fled with Master Kunimaru.
Where did they go? To the castle?
I understand! Miki is guarding the castle!
They must not reach the castle!
Listen to us, Miki!
On his way to attack Inui,
His Lordship was killed by the treacherous Washizu.
Master Kunimaru and myself have barely escaped in coming here.
Please open the gate!
Please, Miki. They are close behind us.
Open the gate!
We must catch them.
Wait!
Wait, I say!
We must discover Miki's intentions.
He might well attempt to keep the castle for himself.
If so, we must first dispose of him.