Critique of Roman Polanski's Macbeth

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Critique of Roman Polanski's Macbeth

Roman Polanski's version of Macbeth, in my opinion, lived up to the Shakespeare's play. Although there were many minor changes in the play the plot stayed the same. One commendable change on Polanski's part was the way he sensationalized the violence. There weren't that many violent scenes but those few very extremely violent. I had thought myself to be completely desensitized to violence until I watched this movie.

One of the first major changes was the battle in the beginning of the movie. In the play we weren't shown the battle, we were only told of the outcome. In the movie we weren't show the whole battle only remnants of it. The one thing that stuck in my mind from that battle was when that one soldier was checking for survivors. And when he found one he beat him to death with a mace. That scene set the tone for the rest movie. In the play the first violent act we encounter was the murder of the king, whereas in the movie the battle scene was the first "act" of violence. I think this was a good addition to the story because it was an early indicator as to the darkness of the play and the direction it was going in. It gave us a taste of things to come. I don't think Polanski added this scene simply to increase the amount of violence, but as to prepare us for the rest of the play.
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One major change was that of Lady Macbeth's character. In the play we watched Lady Macbeth was the instigator. She was the driving force behind the death of Duncan. If it weren't for her, Macbeth would not have killed the king. She seemed to control Macbeth and his actions throughout the whole of the play (or until he decided to kill Banquo and Fleance). The character in the play was ugly (both literally and figuratively) and sinister. In the play, Macbeth was Lady Macbeth's hand puppet. She was the evil one. He was an honest man to his ...

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