Macbeth |  | Actors: Jon Finch, Francesca Annis, Martin Shaw, Terence Bayler, John Stride
Category: DVD
Buy New: $6.01
as of 7/30/2010 08:12 CDT details
New (5) from $6.01
Seller: moviemars
Rating:  120 reviews
Sales Rank: 144790
Format: PAL
Languages: Arabic (Subtitled), Danish (Subtitled), Czech (Subtitled), Dutch (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Finnish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), German (Subtitled), Greek (Subtitled), Hebrew (Subtitled), Hindi (Subtitled), Hungarian (Subtitled), Icelandic (Subtitled), Italian (Subtitled), Norwegian (Subtitled), Polish (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Swedish (Subtitled), Turkish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Dubbed), German (Dubbed), Italian (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 2
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5035822066830
ASIN: B00005UWUE
Theatrical Release Date: October 13, 1971
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
Roman Polanski's adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy remains one of the most infamous for a number of reasons: the copious amounts of bloody gore, its expert use of location settings (filmed in North Wales), and Lady Macbeth's nude sleepwalking scene. Despite its notoriety, though, this does remain one of the more compelling film adaptations of the Scottish tragedy, if one of the more pessimistic takes on the story of Macbeth and his overreaching ambition. If you think the play is normally a bit of a downer, you haven't seen Polanski's bleak version of it, made in reaction to the murder of his wife, Sharon Tate, by the Manson "family." Jon Finch (Hitchcock's Frenzy) is an forceful Macbeth, bringing out the Scot's warrior instincts, and Francesca Annis is a memorable Lady Macbeth, but the main thrust of the film belongs to Polanski's and noted British playwright and critic Kenneth Tynan's take on the play: extremely violent, nihilistic, and visceral; this is down-in-the-dirt, no-holds-barred Shakespeare, not fussy costume drama. Pay close attention to the end, a silent coda that puts a chilling twist on all the action that has come beforehand and foreshadows more tragedy to come. --Mark Englehart
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 120
Polanski's Macbeth July 20, 2010
Sam
Excellent cinematic production of a Shakespearean classic. One of renegade director Roman Polanski's earlier works. Shows why he's so valued for his directorship. Faithful to the written work, creating imagery that even Shakespeare himself could not provide. Highly recommended.
 an absolutely first rate film adaptation June 18, 2010
Robert J. Crawford (Balmette Talloires, France)
In his inimitable style, Polanski has turned a classic play into a great film, brilliantly creating an atmosphere, adding action, and rendering the characters vividly alive.
All too often, Shakespeare comes off as staid and too high brow, like you have to read and then hear the play to really get it. Of course, when you make the effort, it is as beautiful as opera, which requires a similar preparation to fully appreciate. What Polanski accomplishes is simply astonishing: without dumbing it down in the slightest, he makes a very complex play completely understandable in a single viewing. It is one of the best such adaptations I have ever seen.
What Polanski emphasizes is the horror of what Macbeth does, a witness to his corruption and psychological deterioration from the inside, making it into a psychological drama. That is one layer that is there in the original play, but it is harder to feel - at least in my viewing experience - than when Polanski does it. The work really becomes in part that of Polanski, while respecting the language and forms of the original.
The backdrop, as shot in Wales I believe, is fabulously vivid. You really feel as if you are there, from the gate guard urinating in the courtyard to the fires that heat the rooms. Though the actors were not well known, they are perfectly cast, especially the phenomenal Francesca Annis and Jon Finch.
Warmly recommended. Just be prepared to dream about it once you turn off your DVD player. Note: I got the British version of this new for $5, though without commentary.
Hammer Horror Meets Shakespeare. June 15, 2010
Chip Kaufmann (Asheville, N.C. United States)
I'll close out my trio of reviews concerning cinematic adaptations of Shakespeare from my college years with one of the most notorious film versions of all, Roman Polanski's adaptation of MACBETH. His first film after the murder of Sharon Tate was heavily criticized for its excessive violence although it's all right there in the text. The film was co-financed by Hugh Hefner which led to two very controversial scenes, naked witches and a nude sleepwalking scene for Lady Macbeth. Now that the shock effect has worn off (Julie Taymor's TITUS is far more explicit), what we are left with is a quality adaptation that really brings out the supernatural elements of the play. Yes, this Macbeth is ambitious, but in this version his choices are the result of dark forces working against him rather than active choices on his part.
Jon Finch and Francesca Annis head a cast of solid but lesser known British supporting players who bring the various characters to life. John Stride's duplicitous Ross is especially memorable. When I first saw the film I thought the two Macbeths were perfectly cast from a physical point of view but that both were somewhat underwhelming. I still think that today but then this version is all about atmosphere. It's Hammer Horror meets Shakespeare and I don't have a problem with that. Gilbert Taylor's stunning cinematography (captured on this DVD in the proper aspect ratio) of various locations in Wales, the haunting music by the The Third Ear Band (released as a soundtrack album), and the omnipresent feeling of death and despair make this MACBETH a remarkaable if not especially pleasant experience. Incidentally, I don't know if Sony knows the difference, but that's Banquo on the DVD cover not Macbeth.
Full of sound and fury signifying nothing May 4, 2010
technoguy (Rugby)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Polanski is surprisingly sensitive in filming novels(Tess,Rosemary's Baby,Oliver Twist The Ghost);here he is, turning Shakespeare's drama Macbeth, into Polanski's Macbeth.Like a medieval sequel to Rosemary's Baby,it's filled with necromancy,murder,evil and witchcraft.Dark,dank,muddy and dangerous,filmed in appropriate locations(shot in Wales and Northumberland).The vision of a pagan,nihilistic universe full of death, revenge,superstition and prophecy.The mad ambition of Macbeth, galvanised by the witches and Lady Macbeth,sets him on his vaunting path from warrior virtue, as the Thane of Cawdor, to the murderer of Duncan, to become king.Polanski somehow guts the play(assisted by Tynan) of rhetoric(soliloquies filmed as thoughts),films an imagined blade as a real one,earths the verbal gymnastics in a kinetic narrative,so that pacing,momentum of set-pieces,rich visualization,fluent editing,create an atmosphere of dark nightmare and momentous terror.Gory,bloody,brutish and scary,this primeval world leaves nothing to the imagination,limbs lopped off,decapitations,the murder of McDuff's wife and children in their home,the ripping of babies from wombs is visualised,Banquo's ghost looks freshly murdered,Duncan is savagely stabbed while asleep.Weighed down by guilt and sleeplessness,Macbeth seeks out the witches for reassurance that he will not be defeated and to protect him from despair.
Distraught with guilt,Lady Macbeth walks(nakedly) and talks in her sleep,betraying the secret of Duncan's murder. The images of the film take the place of Shakespeare's language with spectacular realization and a modernist interpretation, using a rhythm and pacing that is Polanski's own,filmed as it was 2 years after the brutal murder of his wife Sharon Tate.This real experience bleeds into the raw and nasty feelings of dread.Jon Finch as Macbeth has a dark,lean energy and ferocity,Annis as Lady Macbeth,captures the fragility of madness rather than manipulative eroticism.Martin Shaw is superb as Banquo.The ending suggests the whole cycle of betrayal and murder will begin again.Shakespeare,in making a sympathetic Banquo(legendary ancestor of the Stuart kings),intended some flattery to James I;the play also appealed to his well-known interest in witchcraft.The real star is Polanski for one of the best filmed Shakespeares ever.The witches coven is something else.
1971 Production of MACBETH: Polanski, on dvd. January 23, 2010
Dr. Feelgood (USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This film was riveting, and compelling, from beginning to end. Polanski's version of MACBETH, was a screen adaptation of the text, but that is why it worked so well, the actual text is dull and often hard to understand. So, here you get a film version, that's easy to follow and makes for good cinema.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 120
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