Macbeth [Blu-ray]

In adapting Shakespeare’s darkest work, director Roman Polanski consciously dispenses with stylized contrivance and theatricality. Shot on location in Wales and Northumberland during the winter, the look of the film is cold, gritty and raw, which creates an atmosphere of harsh realism. As Macbeth, Jon Finch offers-up a compelling and intense performance as the treacherous Scottish monarch -- at first reserved and calculated, but over time he descends into paranoid dementia as his misdeeds pile-up.This film pulls no punches in depicting the brutality of the time. There is little violence overall, but what there is, is depicted with a stark and visceral realism. The slaughter of MacDuff’s family is the most disturbing scene in the film (and is actually inspired by Polanski’s real-life experiences with the SS as a child in the Krakow ghetto).Macbeth’s second encounter with the witches is spooky and disturbing, with the surreal quality of an acid trip. The protagonist's final confrontation with MacDuff is impressively choreographed (by legendary fight arranger William Hobbs), and bristles with tension and severity. Polanski also adds an interesting epilogue to the story, where Prince Donalbain stumbles upon the witches’ coven -- suggesting that the cycle of treachery and bloodshed is a never-ending one.Shakespeare’s darkest exploration into man’s base nature is brought to contorted life through Polanski’s unique and introspective vision, and his film of Macbeth ultimately proves one of the finest Shakespearean adaptations of all time.

Well done, but they didn't get the ending right and just made it up. Why? Don't know.

Stage and movie are two different media and what works in one does not often work in the other. However, this is one of the better adaptations of The Scottish Play.Part of what drives this is real-life tragedy. Roman Polanski's wife Sharon Tate was a Charles Manson victim and was one of the Tate-LaBianca Murders which shook Los Angeles in 1969. This production was the first film after the murders directed by Polanski. The loss, rage, and pain he was feeling (and had every right to feel) is reflected in this film - and part of what makes it so compelling.While the dialogue is not completely as the Bard wrote, it is close enough. Well worth watching.

History nerd alert and I did perform as MacDuff in a production of the play as a teenager. It's a lavish production & they really took trouble to create a setting that would allow suspension of disbelief. Which is almost impossible when everybody is speaking in poetry and oration. The exterior of the castle is totally inappropriate, even though the Pictish inhabitants of present day Scotland had been building large, tall buildings of stone for many centuries prior to 1000 AD: the real MacBeth lived around the time of the Norman Conquest. He was, by some accounts, a good king. It is hard to tell as these things are passed down from different perspectives. At points (the whitewashed corridors), the castle interior is dead on period (though not for Scotland), elsewhere more fanciful; but never jarringly inappropriate. The weapons and armor are about 200-500 years too advanced for the period (ever tedious, but consider when the film was made.) Some of the formal wear is laughable. The rough wear is very reasonable. Maybe one day a new historically correct production of the play will be mounted that can capture the same lush rusticity and moodiness this production possesses.To me however (despite its flaws), for pure scary spooky creepiness, the Orson Wells production reigns supreme. It scared the devil out of me when I watched it on black & white television when I was about 7 years old.

I am getting back into the theater after an eighteen year hiatus, and needed a couple of monologues for auditions. I thought, what better than Macbeth and Shakespeare? I settled on the infamous dagger speech, and got No Fear's Macbeth so I could understand it, because, frankly - it goes over my head. Also rented Polanski's movie from the library and popped that baby in with the subtitles on, yes, because it goes over my head, and watched that for maybe my third time in 20 years. And it was terrific. But then a funny thing happened. As I started to research the piece, I began to crave the film. I started watching it again and again, and the more I researched Macbeth, the more I fell in love with the film!! I have become obsessed with it. And it is because of the QUALITY of the filmmaking. The locations, all of that - mood, ambiance, tone...sure. All said, all great...but boy, do I love the actors!! Lady Macbeth and Banquo are just as perfectly cast as Macbeth himself, and all of the other minor characters peppering the film. The faces in this film are terrific, and again, the more familiar one becomes with the movie, the more one notices all of the fine intricacies that detail the film. I love a good movie where it actually gets better with repeated viewings, and man-oh-man is this one of them. You just can't get any better than Polanski's Macbeth - you really can't. When they say "They don't make them like this anymore," they mean films of this caliber. I've gone over the Shakespeare movies since this film, and frankly they stink. Too much lighting, too much editing, no mood or tone or even realism or real passion. I can't stand them. Give me Polanski's version, any day. This is so much better than any Shakespeare film adaptation that it is ridiculous. Folks, honestly, there's the Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth from the late Sixties era, man, and then it all just sucks. I love this film, and I fell IN love with the film over a course of repeated viewings. Now I'm obsessed for it, and the quality of the picture. So much so that I threw my hands up and stopped renting it and decided to go out of my budget to actually purchase the DVD. And I only buy DVDs that I know I'm going to watch - and trust me, you will be grateful to have this in your catalog. It is borderline perfection. Again, one must state the obvious: They just don't make 'em like this anymore. This is what film is for. Timeless and beautiful, this is one for the ages!! 10 Stars. A+++

Possibly the best of the various movie versions of Macbeth (certainly better than the over-praised Orson Welles version and the recen Michael Fassbinder one). .Good direction by Polanski concentrating on the human drama and being faithful to the original play and not overdoing the battle scenes.But he didn't seem to get a great performance out of Jon Finch the title role. Jon had a limited range of facial expressions not really conveying the incredible life changes that Macbeth was going through except towards the very end of the film!Probably would have been better for Polanski to swop his role with that of his co-star, Martin Shaw (playing Banquo). I do regard Martin Shaw as the better actor having seen him on stage as well as films and television.But Francesca Annis gives a powerful performance as Lady Macbeth, moving from the character's initial relentless ambition to her descent intomadness.Often described as a "very bloody account" but that's a 1971 view and these days would not be seen as so controversial.

Not being a fan of the bard and absolutely loathing the often over the top performances that tend to accentuate the flowery language, and caricatures that make up the central characters this cinematic version of the Scottish play is refreshingly missing the usual excess of pork that accompanies Elizabethan drama.The film manages to convey a truly spooky quality and the death sequence of Duncan (spoiler ahead) is beautifully brutal and has a sense of reality. I still basically don't like Shakespeare but this presentation is the closest thing to bringing one of his works to the screen in a way that feels gritty and convincing in the way most versions fail.

It strikes me that there may be one or two people who are thinking about watching a Macbeth on DVD and weighing up this against Fassbender/ Kurzel. I am not noted for my film criticism but I here goes. The Polanski version is better because a) it doesn't miss out much of the play b) it uses all the colours available not just red c) it doesn't try to be filmic d) its not boring ( it really isn't boring). Watched with 8 year old who was transfixed. If Id asked him to watch the other he'd be off playing with his Lego after 10 minutes.Polanki - Mud, bloody, poetry, drama Fassbender - Substandard spaghetti western in Scotland with no porter and very fleeting weird sisters

This is a very fine film of one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. The casting is inspired, the location scenes richly evocative and convincing, and above all the lines are spoken beautifully by the principals. Yes, we have to set aside the absurdity of a macabrely significant Donalbain and a self-serving Ross, both triggered by rather desperate critical attempts to bring some fresh light on a play not in the least in need of it. These are minor aberrations and do no major damage to Polanski’s achievement. Elsewhere the imaginative daring which characterises the whole is triumphant, especially in the scene where Macbeth revisits the witches - hypnotic and totally in keeping with the spirit of the text. I have used this film with many classes at different levels. It has gripped all, or certainly very nearly all. On a recent re-viewing I was surprised to register just how powerful the film remains. At its present price it is wonderful value.

I am no one to speak about Shakespeare's plays so I will give my opinion from an outsider's viewpoint. One thing is to write a play and a very different one is to make a film out of it. To me some characters are not introduced well enough specially because most of them are physically alike and sometimes I found myself wondering "but who is this"? Of course it doesn't matter if you are familiar with the play. Lady Macbeth was wonderful, landscape suited very well the mood of the story, as a whole the film is very enjoyable but not outstanding. DVD copy was good, image and sound.