Shakespeare in Film Individual Assignment

Macbeth is well known to be one of Shakespeare’s shortest yet darkest tragedies. The rich, psychological turmoil experienced by the main characters and the incorporation of elements such as the supernatural culminates in a tragedy that is one of Shakespeare’s most intense and grim. I will be examining the 1971 Roman Polanski film due to the unique life story of the director and the gruesome murders that occurred prior to the film. The film employs the use of gratuitous violence, nudity and graphic imagery that far exceeds that of the text, which Roman Polanski masterfully uses to highlight the inherent madness and evil that drives Macbeth and in doing so, successfully creates an psychologically disturbing film with an atmosphere of perpetual dread. Firstly, one distinct feature about the film that differs from the text is the inclusion of nudity seen in several scenes. Macbeth itself draws largely upon the theme of the occult and madness as the main driving forces, with the inclusion of the prophetic apparitions, visions of ghosts and mental breakdowns. The scene showing Macbeth seeks out the witches for the 2nd time exemplifies the occult brilliantly as it opens to a huge coven of naked witches huddled around the cauldron whilst chanting “Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn, cauldron bubble”. In the book, there was no mention of other witches apart from the three and by including the scene, the huge gathering of naked witches very effectively shocks and repulses, revealing the grotesque nature of evil behaviour and the importance of the witches as the agents of evil in the film and play. The inclusion of nudity was also in the famous sleepwalking scene by Lady Macbeth, which according to Roman Polanski, was his want to convey a sense of vulnerability and helplessness in Lady Macbeth, much like how her mind is weak and privy to the darkness of her crimes and this complements her mental breakdown perfectly. By choosing to film in the scenes with total nakedness, the characters effectively embody the occult-driven insanity present in the play and also create a very visually arresting scene that appals, as much as it intrigues. Apart from nudity, there is also an inclusion of explicit violence that further adds to the desolation and madness of the film. There are many scenes which we see large amounts of blood – Macbeth’s own execution, death of Thane of Cawdor, the bloody aftermath at Macduff’s castle, the bear and dog fight at Macbeth’s feast after his coronation and most importantly, the gory assassination of Duncan. Many of these scenes (especially Duncan’s) are only alluded to in the play, yet the explicit and graphic portrayal of such murders, even of children makes the film stand out by its macabre imagery. In many ways, the increasing bloodshed signifies a point where Macbeth loses his grip on reality and begins his descent into madness, as he becomes disillusioned with his perceived immunity against all man. The extreme violence also helps to convey the how drastic his transition into a cold-blooded serial killer was, and he surrenders his will to evil whilst losing his mind, experiencing severe paranoia, hallucinations and severe guilt. It has been mentioned that the excessive violence was influenced partly by the Manson Murders and his own personal childhood memories in the WWIIbut I feel the director’s injection of his own personal experiences into the film, has managed to accentuate the idea of the relationship of evil and madness underlying in Macbeth powerfully. Furthermore, in the film, Roman Polanski has also chosen to incorporate several scenes that depart from the play, which hints at the cyclical nature of evil and power that is only seen in the film. Banquo and Fleance is seen in Macbeth’s dream trying to assassinate him and take his crown from him, an allusion to the witches’ prophecy of how Banquo’s sons will be kings. This also highlights Macbeth’s inability to seek rest that contributes to his growing mental instability. The alternate ending is especially powerful – Donalbain seeking out the witches right after his brother’s coronation – as it ended the same way as it started, hinting at the infinite cyclical nature of power and how evil co-exists as an opposing force and thus creating internecine warfare once again. Differing from Shakespeare’s ending, Roman Polanski’s take has managed to convey the sense of inevitability of political turmoil and how the human obsession with power and the choice to walk down a maddening path that eventually leads to the manifestation of malevolent behaviour. Another striking aspect of the film is the inclusion of very graphic details such as the foetus being “ripped” from the womb, the contorted corpse of Lady Macbeth, Macbeth’s executed head being paraded on a stick and the stunning hallucinogenic display of prophecies seen by Macbeth in the witches’ cauldron. All these details are Polanski’s own touch to the film and further furnishes the volatile madness. The very lurid natures of these images are unsettling and hint that succumbing to evil will lead to a gruesome and grisly end. On a different note, there are rather interesting parallels that can be drawn between Macbeth and modern day serial killers, specifically Charles Manson and Charles “Tex” Watson, as well as the similarity in the way the occult leads to a madness that is highly destructive. Charles Manson headed the Manson Family who was responsible for the gruesome deaths of about 9 people, including the director’s pregnant wife at that time, Sharon Tate. There is a similarity in the psychology of the actions that the murderers took, namely Charles ‘Tex’ Watson (and the followers) and Macbeth himself. The scope of the two tragedies are comparable and there was also a strange amoral behaviour and a similar madness that was exhibited by the two parties – a lack of attempt to rectify the wrong after the crimes (despite feeling remorse) and the fact that his better nature did not resurface despite him being a loyal nobleman right before the prophecies. There is a strange lack of character although he did try to justify his actions in Act III Scene 4: “It will have blood; they say, blood will have blood” and “I am in blood
Stepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more,
Returning were as tedious as go o'er”. It is also interesting how, in the reel and real, both murderers were under the influence of another party and had acted under the instigation and demand of another, with the masterminds being Charles Manson and Lady Macbeth. The 1971 adaptation of Macbeth presents a compelling and gripping thriller of a madman’s rule over dreary Scotland – complete with sombre skies, eerie acoustics and a melancholic pessimism that is present throughout. Polanski has managed, with his excesses, to highlight the madness and evil so intrinsic in Macbeth and to create a film so grisly yet keeping true to the original intensity of the play. His personal tragedy has also helped create a Macbeth true to the psyche of a power-hungry murderer and also the senselessness of his total subscription to the agents of evil.

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[ 1 ]. Virginia Wright Wexman, Roman Polanski, Twayne Publishers, Boston, 1985, p. 80.
[ 2 ]. 2Barbara Leaming, Polanski, a Biography: The Filmmaker as Voyeur, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1981, pp. 129-130 3Roman Polanski, Roman, Heinemann, London, 1984, p. 291