Macbeth

This low budget production of Macbeth brought the play back to life again and is by far the best version I have watched. Jason Connery and Helen Baxendale are superb in their roles and bring a humanity to their characters that makes you feel with them. There is solid support, in particular from Graham McTavish, Iain Stuart Robertson, Kenneth Bryans and Jock Ferguson is brilliant as the porter. Jeremy Freeman makes a good job of his directorial debut, and should go far. This film is well worth watching.

Every review I have read so far seems to have missed a crucial point. Shakespeare wrote for the accent and the pronunciation just as he did for northerners in other plays. The Scottish accent changes the emphasis and rhythm of the language and affects profoundly what is said and the way it is taken. So, listen again and note the difference. The play is well done and the rhythm of the words are so much better than that provided by people using received, polite, well- enunciated English. I am reminded of the time a teacher in a school in Leicester, unknowingly, asked me, age 14, to read a piece of Walter Scott which was written in the tone of the Border. I come from the Border and when I read it as it should be read it made all the difference.

Fresh, luminous Helen Baxendale and the magnetic Jason Connery, a slightly more subdued, less craggily Celtic version of his famous dad, make a sexy pair of doomed partners in this low-budget Scottish production. Many ingenious touches, and some scenes, especially those leading up to the murder, among the most compelling versions of the play I have ever seen. A worthy successor to Orson Welles' cheeseparing lensing for Republic Pictures. Good stuff.

From the opening title shot of a candlelit Sutton Hoo war helmet (many might wonder what a relic of the East Anglian Vendel culture is doing in the Scottish Highlands, but of course those searching in the dust for thorough historical accuracy in Shakespeare are always on a hiding to nothing - and doubtless the striking clocks in "Julius Caesar" hath made those people mad), and the stirring strains of the pipes, we are plunged into a "Macbeth" taking place in a Celtic twilight of hairy "Braveheart"-esque warriors and gloomy castles, well fitted to one of the most grim and gritty of the Bard's plays.

Old Shaky's story lines are well-known, so we may safely skip over the plot precis. Jason Connery takes time out from being known as the second (and second-best - nothing to be ashamed of as Michael Praed was so good in the role) Robin of Sherwood to give us a Macbeth believable as a seasoned warrior of Moray and trusty, if untrustworthy, vassal of an early mediaeval king. Helen Baxendale is as luminous and radiant as always, acquitting herself well with the accent, as my favourite Lady Macbeth (i have admittedly still to see Francesca Annis in the noted Roman Polanski version), swinging from highly-strung hysteria to sexy coquettishness as she lures her easily-swayed husband to do the deadly deed.

The other standout member of the cast is Graham McTavish (Warden 'Nicey' Ackerman to fans of sci-fi sitcom "Red Dwarf") as the indomitable Banquo. Good direction and striking scenery in authentic Highland locations make this a Macbeth that will not have viewers crying "Out, vile jelly!", as they may need their eyes in order to give it a deserved second viewing.

Excellent performance. There still are good actors around! Also great directing and photography. Very true to Shakespear, and a 'must' for all Shakespear fans. Macbeth (Jason Connery) moved me to tears with his final monolog (out brief candle, out)He gave the sphere of moral decay and dark forces a human face, which makes it the more interesting. Helen Baxendale is a very credible lady Macbeth who can be very cheerfull at times and sometimes she just looks like a naughty girl, but deadly in her taste for blood and evil. If you love death and decay, and Shakespears lyrics... this is the one.