ROMAN POLANSKI'S 'THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH.' (1971) BASED ON THE PLAY BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. DIRECTED BY ROMAN POLANSKI. PRODUCTION COMPANY: CALIBAN FILMS/PLAYBOY PRODUCTIONS. STARRING JON FINCH, FRANCESCA ANNIS AND MARTIN SHAW. REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©
This version of old Willie Shakespeare's famous play has come in for a bit of stick over the years for being too bloody and having some unnecessary nudity in it. Me personally, I think it's staggeringly good, and I really mean that.
It's visually gorgeous with bleak, windswept locations that would take the sight out of your eyes, as we say here in Ireland. The two leads act up a storm and the support cast does a top job too. Best of all, the film imbues sexy, vibrant new life into the words written some four hundred years ago by Stratford-On-Avon's hottest young playwright.
I studied this play in school and I always loved it. This film is a million times better, though. From the moment the Three Wyrd Sisters make their appearance and cackle their lines at each other, you can tell immediately that something really special is coming:
First Witch: 'When shall we three meet again in thunder, lightning, or in rain?'
Second Witch: 'When the hurlyburly's done, when the battle's lost and won.'
Third Witch: 'That will be ere the set of sun.'
First Witch: 'Where the place?'
Second Witch: 'Upon the heath.'
Third Witch: 'There to meet with Macbeth.'
Polanski surely did choose the most hideous hags he could find for this job. No offence to the actresses concerned. I'm sure they all scrubbed up really nicely when they went off on their girlie nights out!
I'm equally sure that you guys were all made to study this play in school like I was, but we'd better take a quick squint at the plot anyway. Macbeth is played here by the sexy-as-hell Jon Finch who went on to take a lead role in Alfred Hitchcock's horror-thriller FRENZY the following year. It's one of my favourite Hitchcock films and Jon Finch is terrific in it as Richard Blaney, the barman who's unjustly accused of rape and murder in 'Seventies' London.
Macbeth is a Scottish lord from Ye Olden Times who gets told by three spooky old crones that he's going to be King Of Scotland one day. Macbeth is thrilled, naturally, as he's an ambitious sort of chap. His beautiful wife, however, is the proactive kind. She persuades her hubby to murder the existing King, Duncan, when he comes to stay at their bleak but utterly beautiful castle atop a hill.
The horrific assassination sets the tone for the rest of the film. Macbeth, crazed with power and bloodlust, cuts a murderous swathe through his friends as well as his enemies in his attempts to hold onto his ill-gotten throne. No-one in his kingdom is safe and the blood runs freely through the gutters in rivulets.
Paranoia and suspicion are rife in Macbeth's manly bosom. He'd cut off his own hand if he thought it had betrayed him. All that matters to him is being King. He doesn't care what he has to do to keep that piece of shiny metal on his darkly tousled bonce. Yes, he's handsome and yes, I totally fancy him...!
There's a price to pay for everything, however. The King's sons won't let Macbeth rest easy on their family's rightful throne forever. Not that Macbeth rests easy anyway, after what he's done:
Macbeth: 'Glamis hath murdered sleep; and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more, Macbeth shall sleep no more...!'
Lady Macbeth too has her own problems. It seems she isn't handling Duncan's murder any better
than her rapidly ageing hubby is. She has blood on her hands too, and unfortunately:
Lady Macbeth: 'All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand!'
But the pair of 'em are safe for now. At least, they're safe until Birnam Woods comes to Dunsinane and Macbeth is confronted by a man who was 'not of woman born,' but who can say when any of that might happen...?
The scenes of heavy rainfall in the film are breath-takingly beautiful. The costumes and castles are fabulous and the hags are creepily convincing. Watch out for the scene where Macbeth's hypocritical courtiers are openly laughing about his murderous path to the throne and the one in which the Doctor is called in to witness the chilling madness of Lady Macbeth.
Roman Polanski made this magnificent film not long after his pregnant wife Sharon Tate was murdered at their Beverly Hills home by members of the Manson family. I don't care what the critics say, it's the best version of MACBETH I've ever seen, end of story.
It's out on Blu-Ray right now as part of THE CRITERION COLLECTION, complete with a whole host of Director-Approved Extra Features. You don't need to be an intellectual or even a fan of Shakespeare's plays to appreciate it, either.
I must confess, though, that one of the best bits about the film was the way the familiar old lines kept coming back to me from my schooldays. It's great fun being able to go around annoying friends and family members with brilliant quotes from the play/film:
Macbeth: 'Is this a dagger I see before me, the handle towards my hand...?'
Give it a go, sure 'tis massive craic altogether...!
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY OF SANDRA HARRIS.
Sandra Harris is a Dublin-based novelist, film blogger and movie reviewer. She has studied Creative Writing and Film-Making. She has published a number of e-books on the following topics: horror film reviews, multi-genre film reviews, womens' fiction, erotic fiction, erotic horror fiction and erotic poetry. Several new books are currently in the pipeline. You can browse or buy any of Sandra's books by following the link below straight to her Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B015GDE5RO
You can contact Sandra at:
http://sandrafirstruleoffilmclubharris.wordpress.com
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