“Art thou but a dagger of the mind, a false creation? Proceeding from the heat oppressed brain”
The dagger keeps reappearing to Macbeth and starts to lead him towards Duncan’s room. This is also emphasised by the music that is playing, but everything else is silent.
“Now o’er the one half world nature seems dead…”
Polanski shows the actual murder scene very graphically when the murder takes place in a large chamber style bedroom. Macbeth steals the daggers from the two sleeping guards. Everything is very silent, then Duncan wakes up and sees Macbeth, who then puts a pillow over his mouth and stabs him. To finish Duncan off, Macbeth stabs him in the throat and blood spurts everywhere. Even by today’s standards, this is a very graphic scene. After the murder, it shows a blood stained crown to emphasise why Macbeth murdered Duncan
When he comes out of the room, he goes down to the well to wash his hands. Lady Macbeth comes down and is shocked at the sight of the blood, but she soon takes charge and tells Macbeth to clean off the blood then she goes to leave the two daggers back.
“A little water should clear us of this deed”
After the murder though, Macbeth cannot forget what’s happened. Straight after it, he starts to get uneasy, paranoid and scared.
“Macbeth shall sleep no more, Macbeth doth murder sleep”
In “Macbeth On The Estate”, we see a very drunken Duncan being carried up to bed while stumbling and falling. In this version he is seen as a very sly, sleazy character whereas in the first one he is portrayed as a kind and gentle man.
Macbeth looks at himself in the mirror and decides not to go through with the murder of Duncan. When Lady Macbeth comes into the room she is angry that Macbeth isn’t downstairs at the party. He tells her they are not going to do the murder.
“I have no spur to prick the spurs of my intent, but only vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself ”
Lady Macbeth becomes angry and questions his manhood.
“Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou art in desire”
Lady Macbeth is portrayed as a very hard woman in this version. She looks more evil than the kind, angelic looking Lady Macbeth from the first version. She uses her sexuality as a means of convincing Macbeth to kill Duncan. We also see that the interpretation of Lady Macbeth’s speech about the baby is that she has had a baby who died. We see an empty child’s room and a picture of one. We are never told she had a child in the play but the film, from this speech has interpreted it in this way.
“I have given suck, and know how tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me”
While Macbeth is at the table drinking beer by himself, he sees the dagger.
“Is this a dagger I see before me? Handle toward my hand”
In this version however, we are not shown the dagger. Macbeth is looking straight in front of him and speaking, and we have to imagine there is a dagger there. There is also eerie music which begins to play louder and louder.
He is talking as he moves up the stairs and the music gets even louder. When she gets there, Lady Macbeth is at the doorway and opens it for him. The murder scene is shorter than the Polanski version and it is less graphic, yet there is still quite a lot of blood.
Again the them of “Sleep no more” is used and how his conscience will never be clear.
“Glamis hath murdered sleep therefore, Cawdor shall sleep no more”.
He is agitated, shaking and worried when he comes out of the room. He has Duncan’s blood on his neck and then only begins to realise the enormity of what he has done. After this, Lady Macbeth, who seems far more ruthless looking in this version seems to be angry with Macbeth whereas in the other version she seems worried and scared when he emerges. Lady Macbeth goes to put the dagger back where the guard is lying.
I preferred the murder scene in the Polanski version a lot more as I thought it was a lot more exciting and gruesome than the other version. I also thought it was better interpreted from the play and that the way they say the lines and act is a lot more convincing
The banquet scene begins with Macbeth in his room and the murderers come in. He is happy until now and is even is even happier when they tell him of Banquo’s death. When they break the news of Fleances’s escape. He becomes disappointed and unhappy, and he is also worried and bewildered.
“Then comes my fit again. I had else been perfect”
He is very worried because he now believes Fleance will take his kingship that he worked so hard for. He then goes into the banquet and goes to sit down and Lennox offers him a seat. Macbeth sees no seat empty but everyone else does. The man sitting in the chair turns around and it is Banquo’s ghost. Macbeth jumps back in pure amazement and shouts;
“Which of you have done this?”
Lady Macbeth tries to calm him down although her tone also seems to be a worried and scared one. Maybe scared of being caught. The last time that Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost, he stumbles and falls to the ground in terror. After this, Lady Macbeth takes control and tries to calm her husband down
“This is the very painting of your fear”
Lady Macbeth then asks everyone to leave the party.
In “Macbeth On The Estate”, the banquet scene takes place in a modern day pub where Macbeth and his friends are drinking. The song “We Are Family” is playing which is quite ironic as it is a song about unity and friendship but this is not really a group of friends. Macbeth is then called outside by the murderers who inform him of the killing of Banquo and he hears Fleance is not dead.
“I am cabined, cribbed, confined, bound into saucy doubts and fears”
In this version, Macbeth becomes furious and lashes out aggressively, whereas in the other version he was more disheartened than angry. In this version, he lashes out and grabs one of the murderers by the throat..
Macbeth goes back into the pub and takes part in the drinking games. He and one of his friends are playing a game where they are downing pints, spinning around a pole and then running. When the other man falls during the game and gets back up, Macbeth sees Banquo through him instead of seeing a ghost, which isn’t there. When he sees this though, like in the Polanski version, he jumps back in sheer terror. It is a mix of his drunkenness, dizziness and paranoia that makes him see Banquo.
“Thou canst not say I did it, never shake they gory locks at me”
Lady Macbeth tries to calm him down and her tone sounds very worried but also angry. He sees Banquo again on the dance floor dancing with someone. Macbeth cannot understand why everyone else can’t see Banquo. Finally, he returns to his senses then goes to order a drink at the bar. When he turns round Banquo is beside him. Macbeth stumbles to the ground in sheer terror. He grabs a stool and starts gesturing toward Banquo. Finally, the man who he is seeing Banquo through runs off. All his thanes are shocked and amazed.
I preferred the modern version of the banquet a lot because it is set in modern day, which means I can relate it to it a lot more. I also think the actors act, say and interpret the language of Shakespeare and portray the emotions a lot better.
I thought both versions were very good and were well acted. I liked a scene from each film but overall I liked the Polanski version more. Both films act and interpret Shakespeare’s language very well and are directed well. One of the reasons I enjoyed Polanski’s version is that it was probably a bigger budget film and shows the dagger and other things that aren’t shown in the other version. It was also a lot more graphic. I enjoyed the Polanski version a lot but I also enjoyed “Macbeth On The Estate”. Both were very good.
By,
Sean Mc Quade 12B
