The witches only say that they are going to meet a person called
Macbeth. They don’t say what is going to happen, or what they're going to do to him. This means Polanski can interpret this to the viewer; make them wonder what will happen further on in the film.
This is my detailed analysis of Act 1, Scene 1.
The scene starts with a picturesque long shot of a pink sky and dusk (or dawn). This may give the impression to the audience that this scene is to be a scene of beauty or tranquillity, but it turns out to be nothing of the sort. Then, however, the picture of the sky slowly fades into a long shot of a bleak, uninviting beach, rather different to the original setting. There is no sound yet to speak of.
Then, we see a gnarled stick come on from the right of the close-up. It’s not a nice shaped stick, or a shovel, but a nasty looking stick. It starts digging into the wet sand on the beach. A ragged arm of a witch comes into view, and the other 2 witches enter and start digging with their hands, where the 1st witch has drawn a circle with the stick. These people appear as witches to the audience because of they're worn and raggedy appearance. They don’t wear the kind of clothes that you would expect a normal person to wear. This is a tool Polanski uses to try and identify to the audience that these people are witches.
The shot now widens out to be able to fit all the witches into view.
It then quickly cuts to a solitary seagull flying all on it's own. This shows that there is not a lot of life around this area, as otherwise there would be a whole flock of seagulls, instead of just one, and that there is no reason for anyone, even witches, to be there.
Now, it goes back to a close up of the witches. One of them pulls out a hangman’s noose and throws it into the hole. This is mysterious, and intrigues the audience into wondering what it is or why this is so. This may make the viewer pay more attention – a useful trick utilised by Polanski.
The witches then begin to remove things from a cart that they have brought with them. The camera zooms in to what they are taking out. At this point, the witches’ faces have been covered by their hair. Could this also be to intrigue the viewer? Then, the camera zooms in and the witches reveal their faces. Their faces each vary in appearance. One of them is old and hideous, but one is not so old and not as ugly as the other, and the last one is a lot younger and does not look ugly at all. This could be trying to show how evil is able to corrupt a young girls mind.
Now, one of the witches puts a severed hand into the hole. This may indicate that these people are up to no good, as surely burying a hand is not the kind of thing done by normal people.
Then, one of the witches pulls out some sacks off the carts, and hands them to the others. They then sprinkle these things over the hand. None of these things are explained in any way, so the audience is left none the wiser by what these witches are up to, except that it is not something pleasant.
At this point, the only sounds that are being made are grunts made by the witches as they are digging and throwing the hand into the hole.
Now, they cover up the hole, and one of the witches pours blood over the spot where the hand is buried – another clue of evil. They then spit on the buried hand, which could indicate that it is a bad thing that they are burying, or in this case, something the witches do not like (which would therefore make it good, as the witches are bad, or could be something even worse than them, e.g. something that is cursed).
Now, the witches start to speak. They all say a rhythmic chant, which is generally mumbled and you cant really here what they are saying, or point out any of the witches voices individually, perhaps because Polanski does not want to let the viewer know yet.
The camera now goes into a wide shot, and the witches now start to speak to each other in direct dialogue. Only 2 of them speak, the 2 older witches, and they discuss where they will next meet again. The conversation between the two witches seems fairly regular, like any other normal conversation. But, one of the witches pauses before she says with whom they will meet. “Macbeth,” she says slowly after a short absence of speech. This could make the audience think that if these witches have been doing all these nasty things out in this beach, imagine what would happen if they meet someone – would they cut his hand off aswell? These are all questions that could be answered later on in the film, making the viewer watch it to find these things out.
Finally, we see a long shot of the witches walking out onto the beach into the distance, with the camera staying at one spot while the witches slowly fade away. Then, as they are entering the distance, CGI clouds cover the screen, and the word “Macbeth” comes up in a big font.
As I said before, this scene creates a lot of mystery and wonder, which leads the audience to want to know what happens in the next scene, useful for Polanski to keep the audience interested. It also asks the question of how is Macbeth connected to these people? Maybe he is in with them, and the he is bad also, or that he is soon to be a victim of their evil deeds.
In conclusion, I think Polanski has been quite successful with the way he has put this scene across, and how he has drawn the audience’s attention to the film in the first scene. However, I think that in general it is too vague, and could possibly leave the audience feel bewildered and confused as to what is happening.
