The Tragedy of Macbeth
Tags: dark, realism, murder, violence, atmospheric, tragedy, revenge

Plot synopsis:
=== Act I ===
The play opens amidst thunder and lightning, and the Three Witches decide that their next meeting shall be with Macbeth. In the following scene, a wounded sergeant reports to King Duncan of Scotland that his generals—Macbeth, who is the Thane of Glamis, and Banquo—have just defeated the allied forces of Norway and Ireland, who were led by the traitorous Macdonwald, the Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth, the King's kinsman, is praised for his bravery and fighting prowess.
In the following scene, Macbeth and Banquo discuss the weather and their victory. As they wander onto a heath, the Three Witches enter and greet them with prophecies. Though Banquo challenges them first, they address Macbeth, hailing him as "Thane of Glamis," "Thane of Cawdor," and that he shall "be King hereafter." Macbeth appears to be stunned to silence. When Banquo asks of his own fortunes, the witches respond paradoxically, saying that he will be less than Macbeth, yet happier, less successful, yet more. He will father a line of kings though he himself will not be one. While the two men wonder at these pronouncements, the witches vanish, and another thane, Ross, arrives and informs Macbeth of his newly bestowed title: Thane of Cawdor. The first prophecy is thus fulfilled, and Macbeth, previously skeptical, immediately begins to harbour ambitions of becoming king.
King Duncan welcomes and praises Macbeth and Banquo, and declares that he will spend the night at Macbeth's castle at Inverness; he also names his son Malcolm as his heir. Macbeth sends a message ahead to his wife, Lady Macbeth, telling her about the witches' prophecies. Lady Macbeth suffers none of her husband's uncertainty and wishes him to murder Duncan in order to obtain kingship. When Macbeth arrives at Inverness, she overrides all of her husband's objections by challenging his manhood and successfully persuades him to kill the king that very night. He and Lady Macbeth plan to get Duncan's two chamberlains drunk so that they will black out; the next morning they will blame the chamberlains for the murder. They will be defenseless as they will remember nothing.
=== Act II ===
While Duncan is asleep, Macbeth stabs him, despite his doubts and a number of supernatural portents, including a hallucination of a bloody dagger. He is so shaken that Lady Macbeth has to take charge. In accordance with her plan, she frames Duncan's sleeping servants for the murder by placing bloody daggers on them. Early the next morning, Lennox, a Scottish nobleman, and Macduff, the loyal Thane of Fife, arrive. A porter opens the gate and Macbeth leads them to the king's chamber, where Macduff discovers Duncan's body. Macbeth murders the guards to prevent them from professing their innocence, but claims he did so in a fit of anger over their misdeeds. Duncan's sons Malcolm and Donalbain flee to England and Ireland, respectively, fearing that whoever killed Duncan desires their demise as well. The rightful heirs' flight makes them suspects and Macbeth assumes the throne as the new King of Scotland as a kinsman of the dead king. Banquo reveals this to the audience, and while sceptical of the new King Macbeth, he remembers the witches' prophecy about how his own descendants would inherit the throne; this makes him suspicious of Macbeth.
=== Act III ===
Despite his success, Macbeth, also aware of this part of the prophecy, remains uneasy. Macbeth invites Banquo to a royal banquet, where he discovers that Banquo and his young son, Fleance, will be riding out that night. Fearing Banquo's suspicions, Macbeth arranges to have him murdered, by hiring two men to kill them, later sending a Third Murderer. The assassins succeed in killing Banquo, but Fleance escapes. Macbeth becomes furious: he fears that his power remains insecure as long as an heir of Banquo remains alive.
At a banquet, Macbeth invites his lords and Lady Macbeth to a night of drinking and merriment. Banquo's ghost enters and sits in Macbeth's place. Macbeth raves fearfully, startling his guests, as the ghost is only visible to himself. The others panic at the sight of Macbeth raging at an empty chair, until a desperate Lady Macbeth tells them that her husband is merely afflicted with a familiar and harmless malady. The ghost departs and returns once more, causing the same riotous anger and fear in Macbeth. This time, Lady Macbeth tells the lords to leave, and they do so.
=== Act IV ===
Macbeth, disturbed, visits the three witches once more and asks them to reveal the truth of their prophecies to him. To answer his questions, they summon horrible apparitions, each of which offers predictions and further prophecies to put Macbeth's fears at rest. First, they conjure an armoured head, which tells him to beware of Macduff (IV.i.72). Second, a bloody child tells him that no one born of a woman shall be able to harm him. Thirdly, a crowned child holding a tree states that Macbeth will be safe until Great Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Hill. Macbeth is relieved and feels secure because he knows that all men are born of women and forests cannot move. Macbeth also asks if Banquo's sons will ever reign in Scotland: the witches conjure a procession of eight crowned kings, all similar in appearance to Banquo, and the last carrying a mirror that reflects even more kings. Macbeth realises that these are all Banquo's descendants having acquired kingship in numerous countries. After the witches perform a mad dance and leave, Lennox enters and tells Macbeth that Macduff has fled to England. Macbeth orders Macduff's castle be seized, and, most cruelly, sends murderers to slaughter Macduff, as well as Macduff's wife and children. Although Macduff is no longer in the castle, everyone in Macduff's castle is put to death, including Lady Macduff and their young son.
=== Act V ===
Meanwhile, Lady Macbeth becomes wracked with guilt from the crimes she and her husband have committed. At night, in the king's palace at Dunsinane, a doctor and a gentlewoman discuss Lady Macbeth's strange habit of sleepwalking. Suddenly, Lady Macbeth enters in a trance with a candle in her hand. Bemoaning the murders of Duncan, Lady Macduff, and Banquo, she tries to wash off imaginary bloodstains from her hands, all the while speaking of the terrible things she knows she pressed her husband to do. She leaves, and the doctor and gentlewoman marvel at her descent into madness. Her belief that nothing can wash away the blood on her hands is an ironic reversal of her earlier claim to Macbeth that "[a] little water clears us of this deed" (II.ii.66).
In England, Macduff is informed by Ross that his "castle is surprised; [his] wife and babes / Savagely slaughter'd" (IV.iii.204–5). When this news of his family's execution reaches him, Macduff is stricken with grief and vows revenge. Prince Malcolm, Duncan's son, has succeeded in raising an army in England, and Macduff joins him as he rides to Scotland to challenge Macbeth's forces. The invasion has the support of the Scottish nobles, who are appalled and frightened by Macbeth's tyrannical and murderous behaviour. Malcolm leads an army, along with Macduff and Englishmen Siward (the Elder), the Earl of Northumberland, against Dunsinane Castle. While encamped in Birnam Wood, the soldiers are ordered to cut down and carry tree limbs to camouflage their numbers.
Before Macbeth's opponents arrive, he receives news that Lady Macbeth has killed herself, causing him to sink into a deep and pessimistic despair and deliver his "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow" soliloquy (V.v.17–28). Though he reflects on the brevity and meaninglessness of life, he nevertheless awaits the English and fortifies Dunsinane. He is certain that the witches' prophecies guarantee his invincibility, but is struck with fear when he learns that the English army is advancing on Dunsinane shielded with boughs cut from Birnam Wood, in apparent fulfillment of one of the prophecies.
A battle culminates in Macduff's confrontation with Macbeth, who kills Young Siward in combat. The English forces overwhelm his army and castle. Macbeth boasts that he has no reason to fear Macduff, for he cannot be killed by any man born of woman. Macduff declares that he was "from his mother's womb / Untimely ripp'd" (V.8.15–16), (i.e., born by Caesarean section) and is not "of woman born" (an example of a literary quibble), fulfilling the second prophecy. Macbeth realises too late that he has misinterpreted the witches' words. Though he realises that he is doomed, he continues to fight. Macduff kills and beheads him, thus fulfilling the remaining prophecy.
Macduff carries Macbeth's head onstage and Malcolm discusses how order has been restored. His last reference to Lady Macbeth, however, reveals "'tis thought, by self and violent hands / Took off her life" (V.ix.71–72), but the method of her suicide is undisclosed. Malcolm, now the King of Scotland, declares his benevolent intentions for the country and invites all to see him crowned at Scone.
Although Malcolm, and not Fleance, is placed on the throne, the witches' prophecy concerning Banquo ("Thou shalt get kings") was known to the audience of Shakespeare's time to be true: James VI of Scotland (later also James I of England) was supposedly a descendant of Banquo.

Review: The action is well mounted and paced so anyone would be able to follow it even if they are not able to completely grasp the language.THE NEGATIVE: Outside of a relentlessly bleak visual style that may be too much for some there really isn't anything negative about it.THE LOWDOWN: This is the best film adaptation to Shakespeare's work that I have seen.
Roman Polanski's blood-soaked version of Shakespeare's Scottish play was the video version of choice when we were studying this at school, in spite of it having a nude Lady Macbeth and witches (and Keith Chegwin in the cast - he's Banquo's son).Jon Finch has the lead and he is exceptionally good.
His Lady M is Francesca Annis, a spider of a schemer, also putting in a good performance.Less adequate are Martin Shaw as Banquo, Stephan Chase as Malcolm, and Sydney Bromley as the Porter, although Terence Bayler gives good value as Macduff.Perhaps this Macbeth is the first one to be truly cinematic, something that even Orson Welles couldn't achieve with Scots accents and Scandinavian settings.
To get the obvious out of the way- Roman Polanski directed Macbeth as the first film following the death of his wife, Sharon Tate, and unborn child at the hands of Charles Manson's gang.
Aside from the purging, as far as I can figure, Polanski was doing for himself by going all out in showing the frank and bloody depictions of violence and almost cleansing (as Lady Macbeth would do in madness) of blood on hands that could never come off, of the sort of psychological impact of violence and its aftermath, it was a bloody time in the world and in films.
It would practically be dishonest, in a sense, for Polanski not to show how grotesque the acts of murder that, for example, Macbeth's men do on MacDuff's family and servants, or the simple, sadistic carnage of Macbeth's final curtain call in the climax, considering the mood and controversies of the period.Compared to some of the really radical films of the year, however, Macbeth's story is as old and cherished as children's fables.
Yes, children, you all remember the story of ambitious young Macbeth, prodded on by the alleged prophecies of three weird witches, who murders the king by his own (and his wife's) accord, and soon goes mad as power grips him into overreaching his domain and believing himself to be invincible to all but a fleet of woods.
Yet even more incredible is that Polanski, as well as Kurosawa with Throne of Blood, enrich the material with the film adaptations, changing around some scenes, omitting some altogether, and offering brands of surrealism based on preferred styles.While Kurosawa stuck to the Noh method for much of his film, Polanski's Macbeth is an atmospheric milestone as far as concrete production design can go (never once does it feel like they used a fake castle, or much of a fake set even), and all the grays and dark Earth colors, especially when Macbeth goes to the witches a second time, blend into something that matches the psychological conundrum of the king of Scotland and his desperate wife.
But seeing Polanski take things further, with touches of the bizarre (the floating and illusionary dagger, the drops of blood in Lady's hands, and the spectacular scene of Macbeth seeing through the windows, shot in a hazy and pirouetting camera), and showing what was only alluded to in strange and exciting ways- the killing scene in the bedroom feels almost like the Psycho shower scene, missed stabs and the messy quality of it all, only from the guilty party's point of view.
This, plus the attention to detail in storytelling, the nuanced and gleefully over-the-top dialog provided very close to the original text, and even hand-held camera-work right out of something in Repulsion, makes this a work of daring for Polanski, not simply in the realm of elaborate fights (though there is that) or blood-shed (a lot of that) or decapitations (one or two gushing ones).Though not to forget as part of the success too, aside from the director's total control of mis-en-scene, are the actors.
I loved seeing the whole room of witches, most naked (thanks to Hugh Hefner mayhap), and it almost seeming as if a bare minimum of make-up was used.Bottom line, if you're looking for a hallmark of the dark literary drama, or a disturbing tale of the madness of power, or just a classic Polanski film, it's all here..
Dark, bloody and brooding version of Shakespeare's play about a doomed Scottish king who was, according to his wife, Lady MacBeth "too full of the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way".
Then Zeffirelli made his Romeo and Juliet, showing Romeo's bare butt, even in the ad for the film, and we started getting the glimmer that Shakespeare had been a real person writing about other real people - then came Polanski's MacBeth.I won't lie and tell you that this is the definitive MacBeth - or even that it's a really great movie - all of the actors seem like they are way over their heads in this material.But Polanski's purely cinematic bravado pulls it off.
After committing the awful deed, Macbeth begins hallucinating, hearing strange omens of death and haunting words; his wife similarly becomes worried with Macbeth's bloodlust, and Duncan's son convinces himself that Macbeth was involved in some way with the killing."Macbeth" is a true tragedy, and chances are you already know a great deal about it as it seems to be a high school requirement that it be read by all students.
The remarkable thing about Roman Polanski's movie is that it is not only a painfully accurate retelling of William Shakespeare's story, but doesn't flinch when it comes to violence.According to IMDb's trivia section (and I can't honestly say how reliable this information is, mind you), Polanski included very violent scenes (such as Duncan's death, which is NOT detailed in the original text) because the movie was filmed around the same time period of Sharon Tate's brutal murder, and it was Polanski's way of venting stress and anger.
To say that this adaptation is a bit of a bloodbath is a bit of an understatement, but you cannot deny that this film from Roman Polanski is quite possibly the definitive film version of Shakespeare's play, which is very complicated to even contemplate transcribing to screen.
Any scene with the three witches, the murder of Macduff's family, plus the part when Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost was very well done.(I saw an amateur production of this, and not only was it disappointing, but that particular scene was the worst aspect of it) The performances were brilliant, Jon Finch(who did start off uncomfortable) is great on the whole as the treacherous thane-turned-king, and Francessca Annis was nigh-on-perfect as Lady Macbeth.
While the plot follows the play very, very closely, some stylistic flourishes are added (especially when MacBeth sips the witches brew) and the violence is increased.People have tried to say this film had some influence from the Manson murders.
Consequences come to a head and ultimately everything leads to a violent conclusion in a bloody final stand between Macbeth and the English Army.Roman Polanski has a history of making dark films.
'The Tragedy of Macbeth' may have struck a personal chord for Polanski as it was being filmed when his wife Sharon Tate was untimely murdered by the Mason Family.
Most notable is Finch as the torn Scottish king, who's conscience ultimately betrays him.'The Tragedy of Macbeth' may not be a brilliant adaptation of the popular play, but Roman Polanski has a certain amount of success in the way he films the ideas set out by William Shakespeare.
The things Polanski added work:  Showing the murder of Duncan (and others) and the remarkable hanging of the Thane of Cawdor are examples of how a film, in the right hands, can sometimes give more than the stage play.
Shakespeare's great tragedy is skillfully adapted for the screen, as Polanski turns the stage play into a truly cinematic experience.
The Scottish Play was always my favourite of Shakespeare's tragedies and this, Polanski's first film after the death of Sharon Tate is EXACTLY how I imagined any film version of the story should look.
The grim, filthy setting of the Middle Ages is perfectly evoked; it really was this nasty, this cold, and this gory at that time and it makes perfect sense for Polanski to work out the horror of Tate's murder into this production.
Sure, there are a couple of gripes; Annis' Lady Macbeth does not go mad half as well as Judy Dench's did in a 70's T.V. adaptation and the violence is rather toned down in comparison with Shakespeare's original text but less is often more.
The effects are also very amazing and advanced for the time of filming and the final scene with Macduff and Macbeth is some real excellent cinema.
While the titular characters in the Bard's tragedies tend to be cut from the same ascending-to-descending code of ethics and allegiances, Macbeth (Jon Finch) is portrayed as a man whose ambition is first catalyzed by 3 witches, and reinforced by his even-more-ambitious wife (a luscious femme fatale played by Francesca Annis), and proceeds to infect his once-noble mind with notions of dominance and absolute power that dictate his demise.
Being the first film Polanski made following his wife's murder, there is a sense of the director's own demons being transposed into the internal monologues and asides of the conflicted Macbeth, as he attempts to rationalize his own deeds in the face of what he views as an unjust act (being passed over for the crown).
Vehement and inch-perfect approach of Roman Polanski towards Shakespeare's greatest play "Macbeth".
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.
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.
Yet that's the greatness of Roman Polanski's adaptation, not that it's the definitive rendering, but so potent and memorable.The key difference is that this is not Sir Larry's Shakespeare, but a bloody, anarchic version that strives to make the audience uncomfortable at every turn.
All bets are off here.It's impossible to watch Polanski's "MacBeth" without thinking of the Helter Skelter murders that informed the making of this film.
"Bring forth men children only" is MacBeth's dictum to his ruthless wife, but having him think it is far less powerful than hearing him say it to her face, especially with King Duncan's blood on both their hands.Still, Polanski does respect Shakespeare, hews very closely to the dialogue of the play especially in the first half, and finds unique ways of driving home the point that this is no Elizabethian tale of goodness triumphing over evil, but at best a draw.
Many of my classmates did have a sense of dread, thinking "What good is Shakespeare to me?" Then the teacher brought in this version of Macbeth, by Roman Polanski.
Jon Finch and Francesca Annis, cast age-appropriately, are excellent in the lead roles, but Polanski also gives us a superb supporting cast to frame the leads, injecting more character into the all too often faceless cast list:  watch Ross expediently switch political alliances probably more often than he changes his underwear; see what could have happened to Donalbain, whose function disappears out of the play early in Act II; and watch the portrayals of the 3 leading weird sisters, which meet all the requirements of the scripted descriptions, and go a few steps further (have a drink out of that bubbling cauldron!!).
Finch just looks uncomfortably stricken while Annis acts coy and childish.All in all, Polanski's MACBETH is a decidedly thorny piece of work: since it was his first film following the murder of his pregnant wife Sharon Tate and friends by members of the Charles Manson cult, he seems to have had too much to prove here.
Polanski's original version of Macbeth is nearly perfect and is an excellent adaptation of Shakespeare for the screen.
Also very good is the dreamlike series of visions in the witches' den, which go for a warm, prickly fear rather than spooky chills.In coaching his actors Polanski seems to want to shear the production of all theatricality, treating Shakespeare's play as if it were a new screenplay rather than a thing of grand traditions.
Things definitely made much more sense the second time round, and although this film is visually dark and gory, I must say that Polanski's interpretation, and particularly his ending, is really interesting.
As well, the haunting bagpipes music that Polanski manages to throw in every now and again, was very effective in setting the mood of certain scenes.The acting was convincing enough, especially Macbeth (Jon Finch) at his "evil" phase, but most agreed that Lady Macbeth (Francesca Annis) was a bit too attractive and sweet-looking to be playing the part of the scheming and ambitious Lady Macbeth.
Roman Polanski's notoriously violent film of Shakespeare's notorious "Scottish play" doesn't quite satisfy as it should.
Roman Polanski's notoriously violent film of Shakespeare's notorious "Scottish play" doesn't quite satisfy as it should.
All in all, Polanski's "Macbeth" is a decidedly thorny piece of work: since it was his first film following the murder of his pregnant wife Sharon Tate and friends by members of the Charles Manson cult, he seems to have had too much to prove here.
Hugh Hefner put up the money for Roman Polanski's grim and gruesome adaptation of Shakespeare's MacBeth.
Roman Polanski's interpretation of Macbeth takes on the main character's pessimistic view of life and the play's own dull and melancholic tone to create a very unique and interesting look on Shakespeare's popular tragedy.
This movie was filmed a couple of years after director Roman Polanski's wife Sharon Tate, pregnant with their child, was killed by the Manson family.
Violence, gore, political intrigue, sex, nudity (albeit in all the wrong places), a director (Roman Polanski) subconsciously working out his grief and horror over a personal tragedy (the brutal murder of his pregnant wife Sharon Tate by the Manson family), and released in the early 1970's by Hugh Hefner's film division of Playboy Magazine (yes, they actually tried to make serious literate pictures before resorting only to soft-core porn!).
Polanski's adaptation of Macbeth is ,if not a perfect rendition of the great play,at least highly watchable and wonderfully filmed.Jon Finch turns in a very capable and realistic performance in the title role,and while he is no Ian McKellen,brings the human side of the character to brilliant life.
This Film, directed by Roman Polanski, is a visually brilliant interpretation of William Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'.
The Porter scene is just as funny as it is intended to be and the murders as gruesome.I recommend this movie to anyone who wants to have a better understanding of the play Macbeth or just want a good drama to watch.
Gee, do ya think Polanski knew that?) When I need a break from movies that fall back upon dizzying effects and mindless scripts, I watch my Shakespeare films again and again, and Macbeth is a top-runner in the rotation.
surely one of the best movie of Polanski,Macbeth is a very violent and bloody version of Shakspear'es story.
My Rating : 7/10Polanski is one of those auteurs that really 'gets' psychological trauma - be it 'Repulsion', 'Rosemary's Baby' or 'The Pianist' - his understanding and portrayal of horror, angst and shock is of the highest artistic order.'The Tragedy of Macbeth' which was filmed after the Manson family murder of his wife is a brutal, angry and violent retelling of one of Shakespeare's most famous plays and it really shows from beginning to end.A mad medieval play that feels accurate and with all the nastiness and brooding that only Polanski can do justice with.
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.
bugged me."Shakespeare wrote with Macbeth maybe his most creepy and dreary and evil play, and it is a great credit to Roman Polanski that he managed to turn this play into a captivating movie.
This movie adaptation of William Shakespeare's incredible story of Macbeth, the Scottish King, is portrayed excellently in this brutal, word-for word remake.
Make this be the next movie you watch, it is a must for any fan of film, Shakespeare, or Polanski..
The movie is an excellent adaptation of the play, this is true but the film making quality is mediocre.
Roman Polanski's Film Production of Macbeth (1971) is one of the worst movies I have seen based on Shakespeare.