English Coursework. Comparing Macbeth Videos
BY ANGELA TEGGART
The scene of the witches.
Polanski wanted to make a film and so kept everything real
and natural. His scene of the witches was set in the perfect
place for a supernatural meeting and the weather fitted exactly
into what you would have though it should be. Although some
details were not so well thought over.
The two actors are both too jolly and upbeat to just be
coming out of a battle. Polanski took the image of the brave
tireless warriers a bit too far and the result is unbelieving. Their
blood also looks false, being too bright and clean, not what you
would expect a man to be covered in after a raging feud in a dirty
part of England. Their clothes seem almost immaculate, with
hardly any bloodstains and no gapping rips. The rain is pouring
down but their clothes dont seem to be at all wet. It takes away
from the films' "real" sence and makes the person watching the
film consider it as more of a drama than real life.
This, though, is contrasted by using a real landscape. The
rain and grey skies have a great effect on screenplay bringing dull
monotonomous feeling to the scene. The horses and men all look
part of the play, fitting into a role of going along with nature,
which the play "Macbeth" keeps a constant factor throughout.
The wet and muddy ground puts the "real" element back into the
scene, so one could say it makes up for the overlooked factors in
the costume.
The BBC/RSC version concentrates more on the characters
of the play, ...
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rain and grey skies have a great effect on screenplay bringing dull
monotonomous feeling to the scene. The horses and men all look
part of the play, fitting into a role of going along with nature,
which the play "Macbeth" keeps a constant factor throughout.
The wet and muddy ground puts the "real" element back into the
scene, so one could say it makes up for the overlooked factors in
the costume.
The BBC/RSC version concentrates more on the characters
of the play, always keeping in mind that it was written for the
theatre.
The music is creepy and out of tune, setting the scene
subconciously as unnatural and "wierd". Thunder is heard at
points adding dramatic shudders to the silences, and at odd
occasions crows are heard cawing, linking evil to the field. For
what you can see of the scene, it is mostly dirty and ugly. The air
looks filthy with dust and mist, and the lighting of green and red
give the studio a mystic appearance.
You almost expect to see a couple of witches or wierd
creatures to come along and complete the errieness.
The first appearance of the witches is rather dramatic in
both films. In the Polanski version thunder is heard and
lightning strikes, creating a frightening atmosphere. Then
as the noise grows to a climax, the voices are heard...
"Where hast thou been, sister?" The choking voice of an old
woman, but only much more evil.
"Killing swine." The witch seems satisfied with her
remark; proud yet as though it were a normal thing to do.
But to the viewer her voice is terrifying, a menacing growl of
utter creulty and sinful pleasure.
Polanski had a good idea with the three witches. One of
them is quite young and, although she is dirty and scruffy,
she is not very ugly. The other two witches then look evn
more horrificly deformed in comparison.
None of the witches look feminine. They are more like
animals, rubbing each other and making strange noises.
Their hands are disgusting- deformed and covered in warts,
as well as dirt and discoloured skin. Polanski offers up this
element of disgust by making the wiches touch each others'
hands and rub them together. It is enough to make anyone
squirm.
The BBC/RSC version is purely horrific and the viewer
thinks just as Banquo does, "what are these creatures, that
look not like the inhabinants of the earth, yet be on it?" The
witches shock everyone by appearing out of nowhere, and
standing surrounding the men in a triangle, forming a trinity
of power. The men draw their swords, surprised but initially
reacting defensively. MacBeth jumps a little too obviously,
showing he is the one most affected by the witches. He
moves around trying to show no fear, but is obviously
intimidated by the witches. He is not shown as a brave
soldier, in fact Banquo looks braver and does most of the
talking.
As the witches disappear, thunder sounds again. Then
there is quiet. The setting is lighter when the witches are
gone. It works on our subconsious making us associate the
witches with the bad weather, and unpleasantness.
As the two actors look at eachother in shock the
camera zooms in, showing their two excellent facial
expressions. You can see their eyes still in shock as they
stare, their brains taking in all that had just happened.
Again the scene is focused on the actions of the men and
the witches. All else in the background is quickly forgotten,
and mostly taken in only subconsiously.
Polanski used the same element of shock, but the actors
are not as scared by the whole ordeal. The ruling emotion
is still amazement, but as the men gallop off, they laugh
loudly and happily.
In comparison I feel that the BBC/RSC version was
better in the sence that it was so well thought out and
perfected. Everything you see and hear has an inportant
effect on the viewer and just as much importance to the
storyline. Though Polanski used a real landscape there was
so much missing in the scene, for example dramatic lighting
and errie clouds of smoke, all which force the viewer to
experiance the freaky atmosphere.
ANGELA TEGGART
