Shakespeare vs. Polanski

I hope you enjoyed Roman Polanski's Macbeth.  Like I said to you in class - while it may not be a word-for-word representation of the play, I feel as though it is a great visual representation that also effectively grabs the dark mood of the play - ignore the low-budget graphics of the hallucinated dagger.

A couple of things to remember:

Besides Orson Welles' 1948 version of Macbeth which is merely a small theatre adaptation of the play, Roman Polanski's 1971 version is the first real movie production of the play for the big screen, and it generally stays true to the play itself, with minor changes here and there.  The movie is set in medieval Scotland with sweeping landscape scenes.  Unlike the play, however, violence is a major component and most deaths happen on-screen.

Lady Macbeth in the Polanski movie is far different from that of the real Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare's play.  In Polanski's movie, she is a much more simple and mousey character.  She still has somewhat of a forceful hand when pushing Macbeth to commit the murder, but the Polanski movie does play up other outside factors in driving Macbeth forward to murder Duncan.  Also, what is lost is the "I have given suck" speech from Act I, Scene vii as well as the whole dark, sexual desire that Lady Macbeth holds in the Shakespeare play.

Ross is given a far greater role in Polanski's film.  In Shakespeare's play, Ross is a simple thane who acts usually as no more than a messenger.  In Polanski's film, he is made into an amoral, opportunistic courtier and henchman who becomes a knowing accomplice in Macbeth's schemes once the latter has murdered Duncan and attained the crown, but later betrays his master. In the film, Ross is first brought to the attention of the audience during Macbeth's coronation ceremony at Scone when he shouts "Hail Macbeth, King of Scotland!" in a very ostentatious manner, and this causes Banquo to look upon him with suspicion.  As well, in the play, the identity of the third murderer who is sent by Macbeth to kill Banquo is never specified by Shakespeare. Whereas, in the film, Ross is clearly the third murderer of Banquo, sent by Macbeth separately from the first two murderers. Not only that, but it is Ross who eventually dispatches the two hired villains in a dungeon when they have outlived their usefulness to the king.

I want to remind everyone that when it comes to a test or an essay, please make sure you are referencing only Shakespeare's play and not Polanski's film.

Enjoy!