Roman Polanski Macbeth Comparison

Cast: John Fitch as Macbeth, Francesca Annis as Lady Macbeth, Martin Shaw as Banquo, Terence Bayler as Macduff, John Stride as Ross, Nicholas Shelby as King Duncan, Sydney Bromley as porter, and Richard Person as a doctor.

Most directors would never dream of tackling a Shakespeare’s play, attempting to make one into a masterpiece for the silver screen, however there is one director whom has attempted this goal and accomplish this impossible task. This director is Roman Polanski, a well known international star directing movies all over the world, Polanski has risen to the challenge and surpassed all the goals set before him. In the year 1971, Polanski released his version of the Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, which gives the audience a fresh new look at the play for the viewer to enjoy. One of these notable changes comes as the audience is introduced to a much younger couple playing the parts of the Macbeth family. Throughout history, the story of Macbeth has been filmed numerous; some of these versions have varied from silent

At the time of the murders Polanski was actively filming a project, The Day of the Dolphin. Months later, after a brief bout of depression and grieving his wife, he sought out to adapt Shakespeare’s Macbeth as a film. Amazingly filming the gruesome murder scenes within the movie does not seem to have effect the quality of work he produced during these scenes. The visual effects produced by Polanski haunts me to this day. Polanski was not happy enough when Macbeth plummeted the dagger into the king nine times in the heart area, causing the king to fall off the bed, Polanski instructed Macbeth to continue and stab him again in this throat. The amount of gore is horrific for the audience, however not to Polanski who has experienced it