Tragedy of Macbeth Movies

William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth is a story of the humans’ desire for power and the conflicts we have within ourselves for such a lust. There have been numerous adaptations of this play, from television to movies to various stage play incarnations to comic books, etc.

This review will look upon three movie adaptations by three different directors. We’ll go thru them on the chronological order of their release date, starting with Akira Kurosawa’s the Throne of Blood, released in 1957.

Throne of Blood depicts the story of Taketoki Washizu played by Toshiro Mifune, as a tyrant Samurai in Feudal Japan. As one might expect from a samurai story, the depiction of honour is so immersive and beautiful like nothing you have 

experienced before. It really comes to a great conclusion at the end of the movie, what it means to have honour and what happens when you lose that.

Lady Asaji Washizu played by Isuzu Yamada, is the vile serpent who whispers doubts to Washizu’s ears and urges Washizu to commit treason for them to advance in power. Now I am not implying Macbeth was ever an innocent man who was succumbed to his most darkest thoughts by his mistress, the fact Macbeth commits these atrocities shows already he had these ideas implemented in his mind. Still, the depiction of Lady Macbeth by Yamada comes off as a haunting, nearly demonic with her appearance and dialogue.

Next up is Roman Polanski’s Macbeth, released in 1971 and produced with the assistance of Hugh Hefner!

Macbeth was filmed in the British Isles to Wales to Northumberland, locations such as Lindisfarne Castle, Bamburgh Castle and Saint Aidan’s Church.

John Finch plays Macbeth and what the movie instantly does different is showcasing Macbeth’s descent into madness, with a heavy emphasis on inner monologues. Right off the bat, Polanski doesn’t shy away from showcasing that there is little to no honour in this man.

In fact Lady Macbeth really doesn’t have much screen time or importance in this movie compared to the original play, she simply exists, but this movie was a one man’s show and easily the most villainous interpretation of the character from the get-go.

It’s a thematic story of revenge and its cycle of revenge alongside the themes of greed and power, the screenplay by Polanski was co-written by Kenneth Tynan, a British theatre critic and it deserves praise for making this grim depiction of Macbeth.

 Last, but not least is the latest Macbeth movie by Justin Kurzel, released in 2015.

 

Macbeth is played by Michael Fassbinder and Marion Cotillard is the Lady Macbeth. What this adaptation does different than the ones before, is that it has preserved most of Shakespeare’s dialogue and the movie can feel like a theatrical play.  

The problem here occurs is that at times, it comes hard to follow Fassbinder’s or Cotillard’s dialect and you’re forced to pay attention to the subtitles. Which are also set in the tone of Shakespeare’s theatrical dialect instead of simplified English, 

 therefore at times I had to pay so much attention to the subtitles, it took away from my enjoyment, but one cannot fault the movie completely, for simply trying to accomplish something new. The movie redeems itself with its cinematography and costume design.

Like Polanski’s Macbeth, this one was filmed in the Northumberland, the Bamburgh Castle, the beautiful Ely which is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire and the Island of Skye. The locations are grand spectacular with its cinematography by Adam Arkapaw. Who takes full advantage of the beautiful scenarios that are displayed in cathedral Lady’s chapel, the Ely Cathedral and the Island of Skye.

Macbeth is interesting and appealing story to spin off, the tropes of power and desire can be recognized in any culture and setting, so it was simply a blast to watch three distinct incarnations of Macbeth and how these directors perceived the story and how the characters we’re performed. 

If I had to choose one movie out of these three to recommend, it would have to be Akira Kurosawa’s the Throne of Blood simply because of Toshiro Mifune’s performance, all in all: