Home*The Play*Dramatis Personae*Theme*Setting and Background*Imagery and Irony*
Home*The Play*Dramatis Personae*Theme*Setting and Background*Imagery and Irony*
Macbeth.
Directed by Orson Welles
U. S. A. 1948 (rereleased 1949). Audio Brandon.
Starring Orson Welles,
Jeannette-Nolan, Dan O'Herlihy.
This film is more Welles than Shakespeare. The setting is more that of
Beowulf than that of the later Middle Ages or the Renaissance. On this
account, Welles is impervious to elements in the play (the banquet, King
Edward, hypocritical behavior) that suggest a highly developed culture
against which the Macbeths do their dark deeds. Welles makes the
conflict one between "agents of chaos, priests of hell and magic" and
"Christian law and order." dhristianity, we are told, has "newly
arrived" on the Scottish moors. For the old order, Welles uses
suggestions of Stonehenge and the Druids. Macbeth's appearance is as we
might imagine Attila the Hun. All of this means, of course, that murder
would be expected of Macbeth. Welles excises political elements
intimating the union of Scotland and England and makes the play one of
religious conflict: the major symbolism, accordingly, is the Celtic
cross against the forked staffs of the Witches. Welles goes to the
length of creating a character denominated the Holy Father, who is
spiritually pitted against Witches that look like vulgar village gossips.
Basically, this film is an expressionist version of Macbeth: it rejects
naturalism, reduces human relationships to "broad, primal urges," and
expresses these by heavily symbolic gestures and postures. Thus, the
shadow of Macbeth's finger moves slowly along a wall to point at
Banquo's Ghost. The thrust of the film emanates from Welles'
apprehension of a struggle in society between the individual will to
power and the need for law and order.
Curiously, Lady Macbeth's dress has a zipper, and she uses lipstick.
Other discussion of this film may be found in James Naremore, "The
Walking Shadow: Welles' Expressionist Macbeth," Film/Literature
Quarterly, 1 (1973), 360-366; Susan McCloskey, "Shakespeare, Orson
Welles, and the 'Voodoo' Macbeth," Shakespeare Quarterly, 36 (1986), 406-416.
Throne of Blood.
Directed by Akira Kurosowa
Japan. 1957. Audio Brandon.
Starring Toshiro Mifune.
This film has been regarded as an adaptation rather than an imitation of
Shakespeare. For example, without textual support Kurosawa makes the
forest image central to the play: if Macbeth could control the forest he
would be king indeed. Kurosawa's visual equivalents, such as having
Macbeth die a pincushion of arrows, some of which have been shot by his
own people, have been given qualified praise, e.g., by John Gerlach,
"Shakespeare, Kurosawa, and Macbeth: A Response to J. Blumenthal,"
Film/Literature Quarterly, 1 (1973), 352-359. Kurosawa tries to make the
corruption of Macbeth understandable by emphasizing the prophecies and
the influence of his wife. Lady Macbeth announces her pregnancy, thus
giving Macbeth a familial excuse for what in Shakespeare is less
certainly realized. There are other instances of Kurosawa's chipping
away something of the play's grasp of the darker aspects of human
nature. Kurosawa's Macbeth, as the film goes on, becomes distanced from
the viewers' sympathies and loses touch with the tragic idea of "a world
that mocks human longing with sad knowledge of human limitations" (Gerlach).
Macbeth.
Directed by George Schaefer
United Kingdom. 1960. Audio Brandon.
Starring Maurice Evans and Judith Anderson.
This color version, critics say, suffers from "theatrical," "stagey"
acting by Evans and Anderson and from the "prettifying" of costuming,
the Witches, castles, and the heath, which become the bonny Scotland of
the calendars. There is, to be sure, some slight textual support (in
I.vi) where Duncan and Banquo remark on the "pleasant seat" of Macbeth's
castle. The principal characters are too old for their parts, and too
cheerful. There is undesirable contrast between the theatricality of the
acting and the down-to-earthness or documentary quality of the scene and
the innumerable bits of stage business. The emphasis on realism, as
Michael Mullin has pointed out, causes the chubby Evans to appear as an
"ageing psychopath" experiencing hallucinations instead of ghosts,
visions, and incompletely glimpsed apparitions. The sympathy of the
audience is withdrawn from Macbeth.Macbeth. Directed by Roman Polanski
United Kingdom. 1971. Columbia Cinematheque. Starring Jon Finch and
Francesca Annis.
Polanski's color version presents a young and attractive Macbeth and
Lady Macbeth, who by these qualities help to realize the "fair is foul"
theme of the play. Lady Macbeth is quite free from the meat-ax quality
often associated with this character. Polanski-with memories of European
concentration camps and the murder of his wife, Sharon Tate, by Manson
and his "family" - emphasizes bloodshed more than Shakespeare does: for
example, the camera focuses on the exceptionally bloody murder of Duncan
whereas this act in Shakespeare's play takes place offstage. One gathers
that for Polanski the crown itself is tainted because at the ending
Donalbain, Malcolm's brother, is shown, pace Shakespeare, riding off to
consult the Witches. Polanski sensationalizes Shakespeare's play by,
among other things, having Macbeth drink the Witches' brew; by
presenting the Witches nude in IV.i; by having Lady Macbeth appear nude
in the sleepwalking scene; and by focusing the camera on the
decapitation of Macbeth. The result is a rather melodramatic and
distracting film.Norman Berlin has reviewed the film in "Macbeth: Polanski and
Shakespeare," Film/Literature Quarterly, 1 (1973), 291-298. David I.
Grossvogel has written a review, "When the Stain Won't Wash: Polanski's
Macbeth," Diacritics: A Review of Contemporary Criticism, 2 (Summer,
1972), 46-71.
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