Macbeth - Roman Polanski (1971)

Roman Polanski is the guy behind 'The Pianist'. It is in many ways similar to 'The Pianist', or more correctly 'The Pianist' is in many ways similar to it. Both stories are essentially tragic. Dark, haunting, moving. The original script has been preserved, but it is suprisingly watchable.

All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!
All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!
All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter!

Lesser than Macbeth, and greater.
Not so happy, yet much happier.
Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.

For those who don't know the story, Macbeth and Banquo come across three witches while riding back after battle, who tell them a prophesy. What I find interesting is that destruction is guised in the veneer of success. Macbeth becomes the Thane of Cawdor soon after. In celebration, the King comes to Macbeth's castle.

Stars hide your fires,
Yet not light see my black and deep desires.

With these eerie, haunting lines Macbeth goes in to kill King Duncan. After killing the King, Macbeth develops an elaborate plot to shift the blame. This is soon followed by the famous scene where the blood refuses to wash of Macbeth's hands. Regrets creeps in.

If we shall fail,
We fail.
But screw your courage to the sticking place
And we shall not fail

Lady Macbeth, plays the devils advocate and prods him on, much against his will. She seems to have a much keener sense of strategy than Macbeth. She realizes that he does not have the ruthlessness needed to become King.

Things without remedy should be without regard
What is done is done.

Rationalizing his act. Macbeth comes off as a tool in Lady Macbeths hand. He repeatedly says Duncan is a good man, a man that doesn't deserve to be murdered. So, Lady Macbeth tries to get him off the path of remorse.

We have scorched the snake but not killed it

The latter part of the prophesy hits Macbeth, he will become King, but his children will not. Sometime I feel his desire to fight against the prophesy, makes it come true even more. When he decides to murder Banquo, little does he realize that it makes Banquo's son want revenge. This gets me thinking, when someone says ' You always get it right' or ' You are going to end up as nothing', are they actually stating facts, or do they end up becoming self-fulfilling statements and hence facts.

Life is but a walking shadow
Poor player struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more
It is a tale told by idiots
Full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing

Disillusionment after a delusional Lady Macbeth kills herself. It is weird that though Lady Macbeth is the proponent of most of the plot and comes off as lilly faced and stone-hearted, she is actually the one most affected. The movie becomes increasingly dark and macabre towards the end.

I begin to be a weary of the sun
And wish the state of the world
Were now undone

Duncan is dead. Banquo is dead. Lady Macbeth is dead. His friends have deserted him. He is all alone in his castle. Regret. But 'tis too late.

PS: I know I have missed out a lot of the plot - the moving woods, Macduff....In my defense, I initially just wanted to put up some quotes from Macbeth, and then ended up writing a small explanation for each, and then ended up tracing out the story. Watch the movie, it's well worth it. There is also an adaptation of 'The Merchant of Venice' that is out, with Al Pacino playing the role of Shylock. Has anyone seen it?