They did use some representation e.g. when Macbeth commits regicide
It shows the crown falling to the ground i.e. the king has been killed, overthrown. When Macbeth says
“ Will all great Neptune’s Ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? … Making the green one, red”
You see the blood on his hands turning a bucket of water red and when he empties it, it fills the screen and resembles the sea (which is red). After Macbeth washes his hands you see the rope for the bucket which lookes like a noose for hanging a man, showing that Macbeth will eventually pay dearly for his evil deed.
Lady Macbeth comes across weak in general her frail figure and feeble voice, I think she should have come across a lot stronger. I think there was too much distraction with them running about in some places. I think they could have made this film a lot better; they were torn between traditional and modern ending up with a film that didn’t do Shakespeare justice at all
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The other version we watched was the royal Shakespeare production. I thought it was very good and really emphasised Macbeth’s guilt and what the murder had done to him mentally. It didn’t show you the murder, just the way Shakespeare intended. Ian McKellen played Macbeth very well showing shaking, sweating and mental torment. It made you ask yourself how horrible was that murder to destroy this man? Judi Dench was an excellent Lady Macbeth, she showed lady Macbeth as strong, determined (I don’t think the other production showed this) she believed her plan was going to work but when things went wrong she had to lie to Macbeth, her voice went high showing she didn’t quite believe what she was saying “ how easy is it then”. There are no distractions, you mainly see close-ups of their faces and see their expressions. In this version I think portrays the red sea stained by blood much better. This is because the production is in black and white and so you all you see is the glinting blood. Then it fills the screen glistening like water but dark. Then it fills the screen still glinting, moving, swelling up and down like the sea, but its still on Macbeth’s hands! This shows that Macbeth is so lost in thought he is imagining a sea of blood. Whereas in the other production, Macbeth just talked about the sea of blood. I thought this version was much better as it really made a big impact, showing how murder is not easy and the impact it had on Macbeth was disturbing to see this quivering wreck who was obsessed by the murder.
