A Performance of Macbeth

Dame Judi and Sir Ian McKellen are unforgettable in their roles as MacBeth and Lady Macbeth. It is the best version and I plan to show this film to high school students in the future. It is amazing at how little props can mean and scenery. The actors have chewed it up to focus on the tragedy of Macbeth. Also performing is TV Cheers actor, Roger Rees in one of the supporting roles. Griffith Jones who is still kicking in his 90s plays the old King Duncan. This low budget version was first shown on British television which caused Dame Judi Dench to stop watching herself on television because she would only criticize herself for not being good enough. I don't know what that means to an accomplished actress like Dame Judi Dench. How good do you have to be to remembered in the same category as Dame Peggy Ashcroft, her mentor, Damme Ellen Terry, and Sarah Siddons?

Trevor Nunn has done somthing I never dreamed could be possible.He has staged the perfect Macbeth! Sir Ian McKellen and Dame Judi Dench, (in my opinion the world's greatest actors)have given the performances of a life time. McKellen's slow decent into Madness is so emotionally powerful that you wonder if anything can equal it,the only thing that does is Dench's own mad scene. Nunn has taken Shakespeare's text and stripped it to its bare emotions,the film is one raw nerve after another from the appearance of the witches and their well acted trances,to the image of the saintly,almost pontifical King Duncan praying after battle. Ian McDiarmid also deserves high praise for his dual role of the austere Thane of Ross and the drunken,almost effeminate Porter. This film is an experience that,once seen,you will never forget.In fact you will want to watch it over an over again. In short,this is Perfect Shakespeare.

This is probably "Macbeth" as Shakespeare really saw it produced -- no fancy scenery, no elaborate sets, just stunning actors conveying everything Shakespeare intended to convey by the power of their own speech and actions.

The defining moment for me is the banquet scene, where McKellan manages to go from icily cynical schemer to stark raving maniac on seeing Banquo's ghost, and then back again to schemer and then yet back again to broken, frightened shadow of a man by the end of the scene, without for a moment over-acting and without us, the viewer, even seeing Banquo's ghost.

The only false note I think the production had was Judi Dench -- as others have said here, she is of course a splendid actress and her sleepwalking scene was wonderful. But part of what drives Macbeth in the play is Lady Macbeth's threat to withhold sexual favors and her denigration of his masculinity if Macbeth doesn't act more "like a man" and go through with the murder of Duncan (conveyed in this version by her avoiding Macbeth's attempted kiss in the "milk of human kindness" scene), and frankly in this production Dame Judi lacked the sex appeal that would make this viable.

Still, a bravura performance and certainly the best Macbeth I have seen filmed.

An incredible "black box theatre" production of Macbeth featuring some of the finest Shakespearean actors England had to offer. The stripped-down production involves the actors stepping out of a circle of chairs to perform their scenes in the center of the "stage". Both McKellan & Judi Dench are amazing -- in particular, watch McKellan's stunning moment when he acts out the scene where Macbeth sees his murdered friend Banquo: McKellan turns into a truly horrified, snarling, drooling animal & it's chilling! A must for any fan of Shakespeare, the play & a must see for anyone thinking of going into theatre directing or production -- shows what a great cast can do with almost nothing!

Ian MacKellen is quite possibly the greatest Macbeth ever to appear on film. He is absolutely brilliant in this record of the RSC's Other Place production, which chops up the text and does magical things with it. He knows when to use the verse Shakespeare gave him, and what to do with it. Perfectly complementing him is Judi Dench (great in the sleepwalking scene), a small and fragile she-devil. John Woodvine is a majestical Banquo - you truly believe he is the head of a long line of kings - while Ian MacDiarmid is a memorable Porter/Ross. Roger Rees is good value as Malcolm (despite the awful pullover), and Bob Peck is a calm Macduff, only stirred into action by his personal tragedy.

We can get under the skin of these characters, we believe in them. Although this is sourced from a stage production, it uses film to a great advantage and adds layers of atmosphere in its simple and effective setting. Highly recommended.