A Performance of Macbeth

I have seen a fair few versions of this play but this one knocks every single one out the way. There is no better way to get the full experience of this work apart from performing it yourself. Every performance is spot on, the camera work divine and all done so that no aspect of the theatrical performance is lost.

I was looking forward to this, everyone was raving about it. Then there was a short documentary before it about Trevor Nunn's vision for the play and I got worried. He said that he wanted to get away from the Blasted Heath and Witches that had become linked to the play. I hate to point this out to an important director but Shakespeare wrote them in. So I watched with fear as to what would be done to the play. The witches were there in an altered form, and Macbeth himself says something about it being a blasted heath, so I'm supposing that passed through Nunn's cuts.

Other than a director who messed with the play, it was indeed quite good, the actors were very good, especially Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Macduff, Malcolm, Donalbain and Ross, but I couldn't shake off the fear of what the director would do next.

As for Lady Macbeth's famous scream, yes it conveyed the horror of what was going on but it also sounded like a kettle boiling. Judi Dench was very good though.

Dead solid perfect handling of the Shakespeare chiller with greats McKellan and Dench giving their all in stellar performances. A brilliant scene involving Dench as Lady Macbeth in a breakdown that is so haunting, but so incredibly real. She lets out this god awful scream that frightens but also conveys to us beautifully the emotion and loss that this character has just endured. An astonishing achievement.

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.

Mckellen's use of tone shift and facial expressions are the reasons he is such a renowned actor. This elite acting paired with such great directing makes for a thrilling movie. It is exemplified in the dagger scene using shadows and the dagger along with the close up into a slow pan to show McKellan's contemplativeness. Overall a great film and a great watch for fans of Shakespeare or Mckellen.