Soliloquies In Macbeth

Roman Polanski presents Macbeth his vision of the classic tragedy about the lust of power and its bloody consequences through murder and treachery. Jon Finch is Macbeth, the Scottish war hero who has an insane ambition to seize the throne, with the help of his unstable wife Lady Macbeth played by Francesca Annis. A cycle of vicious violence is unleashed prompted by a trio of witches and their prophecies. Filmed in rugged North Wales, Polanski’s Macbeth is a tale told by a master given his own tragedy after the murder of his own wife and unborn child. Macbeth is delivered as a film full of sound, fury and a dash of genius. It is impossible to watch certain scenes without thinking of what has happened in Polanski’s real world, such as the gruesome close up of Macbeth shoving his dagger into the King’s throat. The murder of Macduff’s young son is moving, Polanski places us in a universe of rain and mist, of grey

Macbeth is often battling his on war inside his unstable mind. “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee:” Faces are often viewed in repose for minutes at a time and we are often encouraged to watch the characters think. This is very powerful and not short of being magnificent.

Polanski’s amplified sounds and unnatural silences create a sense of discomfort and pain to the viewer adding to the brilliance of the production. The landscape shots and camera angles used are what make this film exhilarating.

Shakespeare’s character of Ross played by John Stride is minor but in this film by simply providing Stride with a few close-ups, reaction shots and making him visually stand out, Polanski has altered his character in terms of images, this show us just what a great filmmaker Polanski truly