Any film maker when making their own interpretation of a play needs to create a general atmosphere relevant to the original script. Discuss
Any film maker when making their own interpretation of a play needs to create a general atmosphere relevant to the original script.
This would have been the case for Roman Polanski and Orson Welles when each was creating his own version of act 1 scene 1 of Shakespeare's Macbeth. In their individual historical contexts they each had cinematic equipment at their disposal which Shakespeare did not have. When the later called for lightening and thunder ,he was given thunder boards, his play was performed in daylight with no special lighting effects in 16th century England. However Shakespeare did have the advantage of his audience understanding the superstitions concerning witchcraft, which unfortunately a modern audience would not have. Having noted these points Welles and Polanski follow Shakespeare's requirements for his play in their cinematic interpretations of Macbeth act1 scene1.
Polanskis witches were quite normal looking, one is young , one is old and one is middle aged. They are also quite harmless looking, but that is really deceptive. One witch is blind, one dumb and one deaf ; they need and depend on eachother to stay alive. In Shakespeare's day 3 was a magic number, the witches appearances are very dramatic, perhaps due to their infirmities. The oldest witch is the most terrifying looking because she has got no eyes and her skin has grown over the sockets. It makes her look grotesque. Each appears to have their own personality, which makes them seem more normal than stereotypical witches.
Welles' witches seem much more traditional and stereotypical. He doesn't create them as clearly as Polanski. You see silhouettes of figures in black robes, long hair and claw like fingers, throwing ingredients into the cauldron while they chant. They have have Scottish accents. Sentences start with one witch and end with another, he keeps an air of mystery around them. These witches throw their hands in the air as if to worship satun, they chant forcefully. Although both Polanski's and Welles' versions are different they still reflect the evil Shakespeare wanted.
Regardless of what any film director ...
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Welles' witches seem much more traditional and stereotypical. He doesn't create them as clearly as Polanski. You see silhouettes of figures in black robes, long hair and claw like fingers, throwing ingredients into the cauldron while they chant. They have have Scottish accents. Sentences start with one witch and end with another, he keeps an air of mystery around them. These witches throw their hands in the air as if to worship satun, they chant forcefully. Although both Polanski's and Welles' versions are different they still reflect the evil Shakespeare wanted.
Regardless of what any film director did they had to have healthy respect for the words themselves. In Polanski's version, the witches say "fair is foul and foul is fair, hover through fog and filthy air." They walk around chanting and spitting in unison. Polansi then leaves a pause when the witches chant forcefully "Macbeth". His film then opens with the witches making mysterious riddles. He doesn't mention the witches' familiars paddock and greymalkin. He also makes the audience lie in suspence because they don't know of Macbeth. The order that a director uses the plays text and imagery is an important factor for the final outcome.
Welles' begins with the line sfrom act4 scene1 "the pits of Acheron" these show the witches as agents of dirtress, disorder and chaos "double, double, toil and trouble , fire burn and cauldron bubble." His version also seems more mysteriously eerie than Polanski's because he mentions his familiars. Both directors take liberties with Shakespeares scripts, but both create the atmosphere they want for their own film.
Polanski uses bleak, desolate lokking mudflats in the early morning creating a lonely atmosphere. The scene begins with ared sunrise "red sky in the morning, sailors warning" promising bad weather to come. Shakespeare used bad weather from the start of the scene to show the evil to come and polanski does the same. Red sunrise falls to reveal a grey, cold looking overcast morning. Atmosphere of loneliness accentuated by a burd flying across the sky, the only sign of life in the moonscape. These dramatic devices could also represent the normality of life compared to the abnormality of what is to appear, showing the witches in awhole new light satanic nature. Polanski suggests disorder and emotional violence that is to follow in Scotland. By the disruption of the natural order due to the murder of Duncan by Macbeth, through subtle methods he doesn't want to use thunder and lightning like Shakespeare did, but wants something more original and desolate, a barren landscape. Only the witches could survive in the bleak desolation of Polanskis setting which reveals their abnormality. The director also used churchbells and a cawing bird, which are sounds of normality, to underline further the evil in the play. He has used an earthly setting to create an eerie atmosphere.
Orson Welles begins with great, billowing clouds aiming to show inpending evil, but is less subtle than Polanskis was. Chaos laden clouds add an imposing look to the scene. The next scene shows an almost surreal spectacle of the cauldron contents bubbling and over this the witches speak the horrifying lines "double double toil and trouble fire bun and cauldron bubble " from act 4 scene 1 the words used by Welles have a similar effect to Polanski's noose and severed arm: 'grease that's sweats from the murderers gullet' this reminds of the murderer soon to meet the witches. After the clouds Welles takes the audience to a place which appears to be on the skyline and shows 3 witches standing on what seems to be clifftop or a heath in the fore ground all in silhoutte , perhaps suggesting that it isn't a physical place, but a spiritual realm, a lack of things we recognize as natural. This is very effective as it separates the witches from reality, emphasising their supernatural powers. The sharp, shocking atmosphere is far from the normality, intensifying the evil in the witches.
Concerning props Polanski's witch digs a hole in the sand with her hands to create a cauldron like pit. He uses more props than Welles. The oldest witch uses a misshapen stick to draw a circle, and the youngest witch hollows out the middle to make a cauldron. She then takes a hangmans noose from a sack and puts it into the makeshift cauldron. This could symbolize the hanging of the thane of cawdor or it could be symbolic of the way in which Macbeth will rule Scotland. A severed hand is then taken from a rolled up rag (could symbolize Macbeth's), is placed in the pit. Then a dagger taken form the sack is placed in the hand. This could symbolize the dagger that killed Duncan. It is finished when some kind of seed is sprinkled over the top. These could be seeds of ambition which will give Macbeth the courage to kill. The sand is now pushed in from around the outside and leveled out, finally one of the witches sprinkles blood over thse top, which could be symbolic of Macbeths bloodspill. This all symbolizes elements of punishment and violence.
Welles' version seems to follow Shakespeare's original script more closely, although perhaps of his historical context of 1948 his film is generally more stereotypical of how witches are presented.
Polanski's interpretation also reflects Shakespeares themes, but would appeal more to a 21st century audience and would be the one I would favor.