Of Swords and Parasols

 I just finished(well, half an hour ago...)  Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood.  Starring Toshiro Mifune (just like every other Kurosawa move I've seen, which is coincidence, not deliberate) ToB is based on Shakespeare's MacBeth.  MacBeth is my favorite of Shakespeare's plays (blame Gargoyles...which actually has a MacBeth based on the actual history, but if I start on that I shall never shut up) and ToB is an excellent adaptation.  For whatever reason, I don't actually have a lot to say about this one, beyond "it was really good."

One thing I do want to bring up, though, is Lady MacBeth.  While I haven't read all of Shakespeare's plays, it seems that he only ever created 3 really strong and interesting female characters:  Beatrice(Much Ado About Nothing), Kate(The Taming of the Shrew) and Lady MacBeth.  Beatrice and Kate, though very different, are clever, independent and spirited.  Lady MacBeth, though, is a little different.  Though a protagonist, she's also a villainess, able to turn and apparently good and honorable man into a traitor and murderer, only to have her own machinations destroy her.  When I first read MacBeth, I read her turnins him as a seduction, both in the feminine wiles sense, and a seduction of ambition that fed on fear, and the two theatrical versions I've seen played it that way(one excellently, the other not so much.)  I was, therefore, rather interested to see how ToB handled it, and was pleased with the even darker, more conniving Asaji(I think that's what they called her)  who fed and preyed on her husband's pride and ambition.  Somehow, the character is what made a samurai movie based on a play about ancient Scotland work.

I have started watching (for the first time...I know I know) Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai.  For some reason, I find Toshiro Mifune's running around(I think he almost skipped at one point) with his hand wrapped around the bottom of his sword sheath oddly endearing.  I have to wonder, though, how practical that is and if it was common practice.  I mean, it LOOKS odd(but strangely cute) with the entire sword sticking out over his shoulder, but it's a rather long sword, and the hilt is a good 3 to 4 feet out of reach...

I also have to wonder if I'll ever see him in anything where he isn't covered in layers of dirt and sweat...I mostly recognize him from role to role by mannerisms more than appearance.  Maybe in Throne of Blood.  That's based on MacBeth, and surely if it follows the plot at all, he has to bathe at SOME point after murdering his political rival/enemy and becoming lord... 

ETA:  Why, exactly, does a Criterion Collection edition DVD have "Please! I have fever to ask!" in the subs...