Macbeth (1971)

2 stars

Director: Roman Polanski, Running Time: 140 minutes

For Scottish noble Macbeth (Jon Finch), resisting the temptation of power proves too difficult. But even after murdering the king (Nicholas Selby), having been persauded by his forceful wife (Francesca Annis), his thirst is not satisfied and he begins to grow paranoid and concerned about the safety of his crown. But the more he meddles with fate, the more he becomes entangled in the web of tyranny and treachery he has spun. Will he stop at nothing to get what he wants?

The action - or lack thereof - is just one of the many under whelming qualities that strikes you about this disappointing film, which gets off to a bad start when much of the opening battle scenes are blocked out by the murky, misty credits. Polanski fails to make Macbeth the exciting picture it could be, and the desaturated tone of the film does nothing to revive the sleepiness and sluggishness of this lacklustre movie. The emptiness is only amplified by slow manner in which the majority of the actors deliver their lines and the long silences that ensue the scarce spells of music.

The three witches (Maisie MacFarquhar, Elsie Taylor and Noelle Rimmington) have a rather odd, disturbing “dotty granny”-esque air about them, with much of their lines mumbled with none of the fluency and acidity that should subtly break its way through. Their few scenes lack the eeriness which should accompany their presence - instead, they look like no more than a trio of lunatics who have been left to run amok with the dressing up box, their appearances hideously caricatured. In addition, Polanski seems to have an overwhelming desire to thrust the human anatomy into the audience’s faces at every opportunity, with Lady Macbeth’s (Annis) notorious sleepwalking scene controversially done in the nude.

But the film’s not all bad - Finch performs brilliantly in the lead role, although it’s hard to see Annis’s Lady Macbeth as the vicious, manipulative character people have come to know as Macbeth‘s wife - she seems much more at home playing the doting wife with the pretty dresses rather than the dominatrix who helps her husband get away with murder. The twist at the end provides a welcome change to the normal, boring, predictable happy ending and adds more depth to Donalbain’s (Paul Shelley) character, who is rarely seen in the traditional version of the Shakespearean play.

However, this substandard film is no rival to the likes of The Lord of the Rings and The Brothers Grimm when it comes to special effects; having been produced, computer-less, in the 1970s, regular cinema goers shouldn’t look for the spectacular effects we are used to seeing on the big screens today - the fighting is forced, mutilation of certain characters unrealistic, and the conjuring of the three apparitions one big yawn-fest. Presumably, the look of shock on our poor protagonist’s face when his head is detached from his already lifeless body and rolls down the stairs in an almost comical fashion is down to the surprise of having finally been given the chance to escape this dreary rendition.

Verdict: Although a highly authentic picture led by brilliant actors, this dull take on the famous Shakespearean tragedy will fail to impress those wishing to see the bloodshed, drama and intensity normally associated with the Scottish play.