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Undescribable Perfection

Best movie ever!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

I have seen some great version of Macbeth. The from 1948 with Orson Welles is a great movie. This has a actors standing in a black back round describing what they have done. This is very boring way to do. It has good actor and a good story. But they did it in a way so that is seems boring. See Thorn of Blood that is a Japanese version of Macbeth. Do not waste time. And do not waste money. Do not see this boring movie. Macbeth from 1971 with Jon Finch is a great movie. See that movie do not bother with this boring remake. The 2006 version of Macbeth Sam Worthington is great. But this is just boring. I need more lines and I am running out of things to say.

Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's finest plays, and this is a most wonderful version of it. I know that some have disliked the sets, finding them too dark and bare, I can see why, there are more interesting sets elsewhere in regard to productions of this play. But I found that the austerity was fitting with the gloomy tone of the play. Besides despite their look, they are made somewhat interesting by the lighting, which throughout with the light and dark contrasts is very atmospheric. The Witches scenes and the sleepwalking scene are lit brilliantly, but the one that stood out was when Macbeth greeted Duncan, the greens and reds was almost like a reference to what was going to happen later. I found it very foreboding and subtle, yet never predictable either. The costumes are acceptable, and again fitting with the play's tone. There are more traditional ones out there, but also much uglier ones. The camera work is unobtrusive and skillful.The dialogue is as ever brilliant, poetic yet haunting. The stage direction is suitably intense, the Witches scene in Act 4 is chilling as it should be, the Act 4 English scene is very strongly acted and moving and the banqueting scene doesn't fall into the danger of being misconceived. The music is very well-incorporated and quite haunting, yet it is never over-bearing. The acting is really magnificent. The Witches do give you chills(one is younger than the other two but this really did work), Bob Peck is a poignant MacDuff, John Woodvine commands with authority as Banquo-especially in the "Stop, take my sword" speech and in his ghost guise in the banqueting scene- and Ian McDiarmid brings some well-timed comedy amidst the gloom as the Porter. His Ross is also very memorable and very conflicted, more so than I remember the character being. What makes or breaks a Macbeth production(or any production in general) is the quality of the two leads.You cannot ask for a better Macbeth or Lady Macbeth. Ian McKellen has so much intensity in his line delivery- just listen to the famous "Is This a dagger I see before me" soliloquy- and his descent from loyal to indifferent, hubristic madness chills and moves. In regard to the latter, I did find his "Out, Out, brief candle" extraordinarily moving, after seeing actors sounding as though they are just reading this particular part, it was a joy to actually see and hear McKellen live it. It more than makes up for his perhaps too warm(in features) face, which is more a nitpick and hardly an issue when the actual performance was so good. Judi Dench's Lady Macbeth is both fragile and blood-curdling, while she relishes phrases like "murd'ring ministers" as she prays to lose all womanhood she is at her best in the sleepwalking scene. Her harrowing scream is truly unforgettable. The two are just as effective together in their conspiring, exuding sexual passion and increasing intensity.Overall, a Macbeth to remember. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Most likely written for King James I, Macbeth is filled with references to witches, visions, dreams, ghosts, sleepwalking, and imagery of the supernatural. Professor Brian Levack of the University of Texas, has said, "Ever since classical antiquity, dramatists have used the theme of witchcraft in their literary works. The human exercise of mysterious or supernatural evil has always appealed to audiences and offers the dramatist numerous possibilities for character and plot development." Whether or not "evil witches" and witchcraft itself had any objective validity or were simply social constructs, they were part of the culture in which Shakespeare lived and his audiences were convinced of their reality.A TV production adapted for film in 1979, The Performance of Macbeth, directed by Philip Casson and Trevor Nunn, is one of the best on film. Marked by powerful performances by Ian McKellan as the ambitious Macbeth and Judi Dench as Lady Macbeth, the film is stripped down to its essentials without extraneous cinematic embellishments, but faithfully conveys the stunning poetry of William Shakespeare. The performance by Judi Dench was widely recognized as perhaps her best and she received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress.The first witch scene introduces the reader to thunder and lighting and the mood of darkness is established. Although Shakespeare does not include any description of the three witches, their portrayals in the film as old hags foaming at the mouth would most likely have reflected the prevailing attitude of Shakespeare's times. The witches then plan their next meeting and agree to meet Macbeth upon the heath "When the battle's lost and won". They then depart and mysteriously chant "Fair is foul, and foul is fair",(Act 1, Scene 1) which is a major theme of the play. They are saying good is bad and dark is light which is part of the confusion principle they use to cause the downfall of Macbeth. The witches are gender neutral and have aspects of both male and female. Banquo says, "What are these / So withered, and so wild in their attire, / That look not like th' inhabitants o' th' earth / And yet are on 't?" (Act 1, Scene 3) Just like Lady Macbeth's association with the presumed male role of aggressiveness, ambition, and cruelty leads to madness, the witch's androgyny consigns them to villains in the play, leading the manly Macbeth astray. The witches confuse anyone who chooses to listen to their words. Perhaps after meeting them, Macbeth is being unconsciously motivated by evil to follow his deepest desires; whatever they may be. Psychiatrist and author Dr. Jan Ehrenwald posits in Macbeth published in the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research that "the witches grasped Macbeth's repressed wish by telepathy, so their prophecy is a reflection of his own secret hopes and ambitions, of his own unformulated sinister designs." Though undoubtedly, Macbeth was ambitious, this interpretation, however, is pure speculation and rather dubious considering the witches later prophecies in Act 4, Scene 1. In my view, despite Macbeth's attempt to prevent the realization of the witches' supernatural predictions, he came to accept them as fated or predestined to occur, not as wish fulfillment.Later, at the banquet in Macbeth's castle, Macbeth is haunted by the ghost of Banquo which is invisible to all but Macbeth. Shortly following Macbeth's change and the banquet scene, Hecate, a Greco-Roman goddess associated with magic and evil powers appears and plans on meeting the witches again so they can deceive Macbeth further. With her great wisdom and powerful occult magic, she plans to stir further confusion:"By magical sleights, Shall raise such artificial sprites As by the strength of their illusion Shall draw him on to his confusion He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear His hopes' bove wisdom, grace, and fear: And you all know security Is mortals' chiefest enemy" (Act 3, Scene 5)The most famous witch scene is, of course, the afore-mentioned Act IV, Scene 1, the "Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble" scene, where the three witches obtain the approval of Hecate. From this point on, Macbeth and his wife are stricken with insomnia and extreme paranoia. Meanwhile, the dark elements guiding Macbeth celebrate their victory. He believes the witches' prophecies and plans to fulfill the rest of their predictions even if he must influence the outcome himself. This also shows the beginning of the confusion that plagues Macbeth throughout the play. In referring to the words "mortals", it is now clear that Hecate and the other three witches are supernatural forces or demigods working under the powers of darkness. Macbeth has been erroneously dated to 1606 because of the reference to the "Doctrine of Equivocation" in the Gunpowder Plot. However, recent research has discovered that this Catholic doctrine was first enunciated both in 1583 and 1584, Though earlier plays such as Richard III depict the dark side of the supernatural, Macbeth is the darkest and may reflect the possibility that, in Macbeth, Shakespeare turned from the genial acceptance of the supernatural in A Midsummer Night's Dream to a growing recognition of the hidden evil in men. The Tempest, however, is Shakespeare's final reconciliation with the supernatural, whereby the ultimate act of magic is the renunciation of magic itself. Renouncing his powers, Prospero is able to connect with his true self.

This is a VERY theatrical production of Macbeth, with everybody rushing the camera, gargling in their own slobber, assuming contorted poses, wandering around aimlessly and generally beating the living stuffing out of the play.In a theater it would rivet you to your seat. It worked in "Marat/Sade" and on stage it worked here. However the television camera mercilessly reveals a procession of theatrical strokes and tricks, and there isn't a human being in sight.Wait, there is one exception. The late, great Bob Peck is completely emotionally honest as Macduff. When the poor man hears of the death of his wife and children, for one brief shining moment there is some communication of human truth. It's the best performance in there and he steals the show.The rest, including Judi Dench's famous scream in the sleepwalking scene, is a triumph of artifice and directorial narcissism. This is the kind of horrorshow that gives the word "theatricality" a bad name.It's like being locked in a closet with a bunch of loony puppets. Noisy loony puppets. This traversal is not a tragedy, it's kabuki, and misunderstood kabuki at that.People who are impressed by a bunch of great names will marvel happily at the assembled starpower, but this is a misfire on just about every level. Avoid.