This scene is from Throne of Blood (1957), Akira Kurosawa's samurai adaptation of Macbeth. And yes, this is how the director shot that scene. They got a small army of archers to shoot Toshiro Mifune, one of Japan's biggest actors, with dozens of actual arrows. Even if they were prepped with special tips and guided strings, it still is kind of bonkers.
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So that's why the fear on his face looks so real. It is.
This is method acting
Kurosawa “some of you may die, but this film will be fire”
Kurosawa to one of the most beloved actors of all time: "Yeah so what youre going to do in this scene is try not to die on camera"
– What special effects did you use? – Special effects?
pin-tipped arrows? bro thought he was in a medieval reenactment 😭
"How do we make it look like we're shooting arrows at him?" "We shoot arrows at him!"
"What's my motivation?" Not wanting to die
Finally these guys are talking about this shot one of the most iconic death scenes in history, kurosawas direction is impeccable as always
“That’s not what they did here” is so menacing
One thing that a lot of people forget is that Toshiro Mifune was at least as good a stunt performer as Jackie Chan, even though he didn't rely on acrobatics so much. That was why he was able to do stuff like this. It's not just acting, it's pure athleticism.
"trust me, we'll pay you so much for this gig, no strings attatched"
Oh my god, Throne of Blood!!! As a Shakespearean and a HUGE Macbeth and film fan, this is one of my favourite movies of all time!!! It's so fucking crazy to see the corridor crew covering this movie, because I've been a fan of you guys for longer than I've been working on Shakespeare's film adaptations for a living
-How did you know he wouldn't shoot you in the face? -I didn't!
That's cool! I had the same idea when I was 10 and a bunch of us kids from the neighborhood got together to make a haunted house. I had the bright idea to throw a spear at people as they walked in to the entrance. I had a rubber tipped spear from som amusement park, I put some metal guides on it, threaded some heavy fishing line through the guides, and strung up the whole thing on a bit of a slope. The operator could give the spear a little push and it would fly across the room and hit a spot next to the entrance. It was a huge hit, and great fun! Oh, this was 1977... sadly I didn't pursue a career as a props guy.
so you telling me all that was just velcro on wood? my whole childhood is a lie
"Super professional archers..." camera pans over to teenagers with wooden bows.
Ya u got me f'd up filming this shit. How many takes did this take i wonder
Kurosawa just liked to see how far he could push Mifune.
Cue the Jennifer Lawrence Hot Ones "What do you mean??" Gif 😂