Macbeth (1971)

The William Shakespeare play about a easily influenced and conniving man, who mercilessly killed many due to his greed for power, was well played out in this rendition of the original play. The film was quite accurate in comparison to the original play. The plot events were played out well, all the discussions, even the shortest ones, were played out perfectly. The film was impactful, and the characters were easily remembered when re-reading the play. The characters in this film were accurate, and realistic. A personal flaw I found in this movie was the length of the film, a lot of things were dragged on, and other parts went too fast, which resulted in me missing the important bits of information. But other then that, the film was actually quite interesting. (P.S. this review is for a class project, my teacher is kind of cruel, so just ignore this review altogether pls n thnx)

Macbeth (1971) *** 1/2 (out of 4)Three witches see Macbeth (Jon Finch) becoming King and this along with the help of Lady Macbeth (Francesca Annis) inspires him to do just that. After assassinating the King, Macbeth slowly rises to the top but once there he has only one place to go.Many people consider Roman Polanski's MACBETH to be the greatest version of that classic play. It has been told dozens of times on the screen but it seems most point to this version as the greatest. There's no question that it's a visually stunning picture that manages to be realistic in regards to its graphic violence but it also does the hardest thing that any Shakespeare adaptation could do and that's appeal to those who normally wouldn't enjoy Shakespeare.I think it has to be pointed out that this here was Polanski's first movie after the murder of his wife Sharon Tate and their unborn child. It's certainly fair to say that the brutality of that crime played its way into this film as there are some really graphic scenes of violence here. I'm not sure how true it is but apparently the director referred to the Manson murders when people commented that this film was too bloody. These scenes of violence is where the film truly comes to life because they are extremely believable and realistic and especially when you consider this was made in 1971.The film is technically flawless as the cinematography, the score and all technical sides have no issues. I'd also say that all of the performances were wonderful. This is especially true with Finch who just keeps getting better and better as the picture goes along and he's able to get into the mental condition of the character. The assassination of the King and the aftermath is certainly the greatest part in the film and one could argue that it's one of the greatest scenes from any Shakespeare movie.

This is one of the scariest movies of all time. It is one of the best witch horror movie I have ever seen. The 1948 version is a little bite better. This it is a great movie. 7.5 is underrating. William Shakespeare was one of the best writers of this time. And this is his one of his best. See this movie it is a great movie. Jon Finch was a great actor. Francesa Annis is a great actresses Roman Polanski is a great film maker. This movie has a great story line. It also has great acting. This a great movie. It is a must see. Great movie great movie great movie. I give it 10 out of 10. See it see it see it see it see it see it see it.

While watching his frighteningly dark and nihilistic take on Shakespeare's Macbeth, I think of just what a fascinating story the life of Roman Polanski is, and has become. It is with the most pitch black sense of irony I realize that the film he made, in part one must assume, to deal with his own tragedy today mirrors his future lawsuit - towards the end of the movie it was scarily easy to draw the connection line between Polanski himself and Macbeth who, despite his frustration and angst, cannot escape the consequences of his crime.If justice truly is blind - and Polanski certainly doesn't express any other point of view in this film - then anyone with blood on his hands will get what's coming to him. I still have a hard time though, to feel any greater feeling of proud anger towards a 76 year old man who got his wife gutted while she was eight months pregnant, now facing a 30 year old case that nobody cares about anymore, and that nobody involved with wants to have any more to do with.That becomes even clearer when you see Macbeth. You can only imagine Polanski's mindset when he decided to make this movie. It seems as if he was inclined on not making anything false or half-hearted, he drew a sharp line with co-writer Kenneth Tynan and seems to have held the course all throughout production. The spectator tone, of distant coldness, is never broken. Never does it seems like Polanski interferes with the action that takes place. Never do the characters plea to the audience, never is there a message being presented. It all lacks rhyme and reason, the tragedy takes place before our eyes but it only "occurs". A child is murdered, a good man gets an axe in the back, witches cackle, Macbeth himself is so afraid, his experience of fear is vastly greater than any of his other - yet none of these things are dealt with in any different fashion. Many have tried to make Macbeth into a human story - where Macbeth's follies and illusions of grandeur do assure his fall, but are also what makes him human. Maybe it is what makes Polanski's Macbeth human too. This word "human" though, comes off as meaningless and Polanski's portrayal of humanity as a whole, seems to be that of an endless chain of commitment and detachment, promise and betrayal, and murder upon murder upon murder. This is by far one of the most pessimistic and depressive films I have ever seen. The most disturbing part of it is probably towards the end where you watch killings and unspectacular executions and you as a viewer experience nothing. Whereas many modern moral tales or anti-war movies - like Requiem for a Dream or American History X - use excessive violence to shock and stir an emotional catharsis, there is a detached numbness to the excessive violence in Macbeth that makes is truly and utterly disturbing. In a way, watching the movie feels like having a lobotomy.Naturally, much of this comes from the murder of Sharon Tate, which echoes throughout the entire movie, but while there are many obvious details making the movie so hauntingly personal, there is also a lot in the movie that simply tells Shakespeare's tragedy in an even more depressing light. After all, despite the many attempts to make sense and sensibility out of the Macbeth story, the overall message of the story seems to be that life is a cold and meaningless affair, you live until you die, nothing matters and surrounded by beautiful landscapes men kill and kill again. It seems like Polanski is simply doing the play as literal as possible. Who's to say Shakespeare himself wasn't in the same state as Polanski when he wrote the play? Who's to say Polanski's Macbeth isn't the most accurate?