daydreaming

During a recent trip to Stratford, Ontario, I had the chance to visit The Little Prince Micro-Cinema, recognized by Guinness World Records as the World’s Smallest Movie Theatre! This 13-seater gem was fully decked out in charming old-fashioned theatre decor, making it such a cute and fun experience. We were lucky enough to catch this film playing during our visit (the other option was Ju-on, the original Japanese Grudge, but both my boyfriend and I aren't horror fans, so we skipped that one). Throne of Blood didn't seem to be the most popular pick that day because we were the only ones there so it was basically a private screening, which was awesome. The theatre does actually offer private shows for a couple hundred dollars, so honestly, we lucked out!

While chatting with the super nice lady that worked there after the show, she shared a bit about why she chose this film to screen and how it connected to the Stratford Festival that was going on. At the time of our visit, the play being performed at the festival was Macbeth, and she explained that the production was actually more inspired by this film version than Shakespeare’s original. Honestly, when we walked in, we had no idea the film was related to Macbeth, but when she explained it, we both had that collective “ohhh!” moment as it all clicked into place.

The film itself was very intriguing. It’s a black-and-white film, and we watched it with English subtitles. There were a few moments where the scenes dragged a bit (like a five-minute horse-riding sequence that kind of pulled you out of the story), but overall, it flowed and transitioned nicely. The acting and music were genuinely very captivating, and some of the effects and scenes were super impressive for the time. We really enjoyed the film, though to be fair, that might’ve been partly because of the whole experience of seeing it on the big screen. I would love to check out some of Akira Kurosawa's other works as well after this.