Macbeth

I saw this version of Macbeth in an interesting format. Someone took this movie and broke it up into chunks of about 15 or 20 minutes for use in the classroom. And I couldn't think of a better version for that purpose.

Though clearly of modest budget, it is not cheap. Rather it skillfully uses available resources to create a stark, clear (and trimmed down) production. It does this by being strangely, yet coherently, anachronistic. The nature of the characters and the scenes determine the prevailing time period of the props, costumes and setting; so they are more than mere set dressing and non-verbally communicate information about who the characters are. Usurper Macbeth never rises above his castle in an abandoned factory, which contrasts with the elegance of the rightful heir Malcolm's pristine English manor.

The delineations aren't strict... the witches' Mad Max post-apocalyptic world sits in the midst of contemporary warfare. The banquet shows Macbeth's futile attempt at legitimacy in a clash of period and style. But rather than creating chaos, this mixing keeps the characters visually consistent throughout the production.

The performances are excellent, but not outstanding, and fall into the standard British Shakespearean rhythms which can take some acclimatization for people not accustomed to it. But the acting fits the context of the setting while staying true to Shakespeare. Though not a definitive Macbeth, it is one I can watch with pleasure whenever the local public broadcasting channel broadcasts it as a teacher's resource. And I wouldn't mind having the complete version without the breaks.

Very disappointing. Pertwee is an offhand kind of Macbeth, with little acting, gestural, or vocal range. The director managed to cut or truncate some of the best verbal/poetic phrases/lines -- a flabbergasting disrespect for Shakespeare. If you want to do a play roughly related to Macbeth, do it, but don't call it a version of Shakespeare. This was simply a very bad version; it might have worked as an adaptation, completely reworked.. Lady Macbeth was better than most of the others, but almost everything else in the production was inferior. One of the worst things was the omission or eviscerating of key elements in the play -- e.g., the Porter's scene, which is almost completely cut, and Macduff's big scene in Act IV. In the interview between Macduff and Malcolm, Malcolm is totally unconvincing either when he is feeding Macduff his stupid stories about his vices or when he's proclaiming his actual innocence; one could easily think that he's pretending. Macduff is denied some of the most crucial lines in the play, when he learns of the slaughter of his wife and children. All in all, this is an insult to Shakespeare's play.

This shortened version of Shakespeare's Macbeth, which my English class has affectionately named Motorcyle Macbeth, is incredibly modernized, with the addition of guns and grungy apartments. The actors are literally speaking word-for-word what is written in the book our class has, and we enjoy watching this a great deal. We shout out funny things when something funny happens, and have nicknamed the lead actor "Blondie." The ending was a little- okay a lot- different from the play version, and the even the witches seemed a little out there. Nevertheless, I enjoyed Motorcycle Macbeth and was the first to recognize Malcolm from Pirates of the Caribbean.

Greta Scacchi is a great favorite of mine. So is Shakespeare. So when I discovered that she had done a Macbeth, I immediately ordered the DVD (which was a double feature, also containing a thoroughly marvelous 2003 version of Twelfth Night, which made it plentily worth the price of admission). Unfortunately, this Macbeth was a disappointment. Greta Scacchi herself was good; absolutely the best thing about it. She spoke the words with more confidence and ease than the other cast members, and you have to bow down in awe and reverence to an actress who can deliver "He that's coming must be provided for: and you shall put this night's great business into my dispatch; which shall to all our nights and days to come give solely sovereign sway and masterdom" with complete naturality and without pausing to breathe! Whoa!

However, the remaining cast, and the no-budget modern setting, clearly derivative of Loncraine's Richard III (and perhaps a bit of Luhrmann's R+J), were utterly colorless and unconvincing. Now, I have always liked Sean Pertwee. I consider him a serious and intense actor whose screen presence I am frequently very comfortable with. But not here. He wasn't terrible, but he certainly wasn't anything to write home about, either. Maybe it was the silly goggles.

Of the rest of the cast, none distinguished themselves except for Lady Macduff, played by Ruth Gemmel. Her attractiveness is probably part of the reason I responded especially to her, but her delivery was also good.

All right, I understand this production was made for school purposes. I don't think that excuses its dullness. If some people enjoy it, and can get into Shakespeare because of it, that's great. I don't think it would have worked on me when I was in school, though, and if I were a teacher I would think twice about using this. The production is charismaless, and there isn't much acting going on. To engage students, I'd pick Shakespeare movies like Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo+Juliet or, if it has to be Macbeth, the Ian McKellen/Judi Dench version. Or, frankly, any other version besides this one.

This Macbeth reminds me enormously of the 1992 version of As You Like It, which is equally modern, bleak and, as I see it, uninspired (I rated it a 4 out of 10). You'd almost think they were made by the same person. But in Macbeth, we at least have the gorgeous, capable Greta to shine in the surrounding darkness.

Judged by the standard of Shakespeare movies in general, this movie is hard put to even approach mediocrity. But, because of Greta's performance, I will be kind and call it average.

My rating of this rather paltry Macbeth, thusly, is a just 5 out of 10.

Don't look for Renaissance conventions here -- no swords, no head-on-a-pike at the end, no evil Lady Macbeth. The witches are true to the bard -- wither'd, wild, familiar enough to make them approachable, strange enough to make you wonder if you saw what you saw. I like Pertwee's Macbeth - even though I wanted more dogged intensity and 'aw-the-hell-with-it' doomed bravado. Scacchi is perfect as Lady Macbeth -- all blind Blond Ambition who, ironically, becomes sapped by constant blood-drenching (and they're they same blood-drenching that put that damned spine into Macbeth as the end draws near). Could have used a stronger Macduff -- I dunno, just call me a sentimentalist; I wanted to see that tough man reduced to tears.

All in all, a fine version -- much less silly than the Polanski tommyrot that so many people hold up as the ideal film of this play. I don't think that the definitive film version has been been made yet. Until then, this bare bones approach is best.