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.
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.