Review of Macbeth

The films of Roman Polanski almost always transform characters' psychological baggage into an extension of the external storyline: whether the paranoid apartment-dwellers of "Repulsion" and "The Tenant," or the Holocaust survivor of "The Pianist," the director savors finding ways to visually and aurally enunciate an almost purely internalized anguish. In that context, Polanski's interpretation of Shakespeare's "Macbeth"–while faithfully adapted and placed within a period setting–keeps in step proper with his signature style. While the titular characters in the Bard's tragedies tend to be cut from the same ascending-to-descending code of ethics and allegiances, Macbeth (Jon Finch) is portrayed as a man whose ambition is first catalyzed by 3 witches, and reinforced by his even-more-ambitious wife (a luscious femme fatale played by Francesca Annis), and proceeds to infect his once-noble mind with notions of dominance and absolute power that dictate his demise. Being the first film Polanski made following his wife's murder, there is a sense of the director's own demons being transposed into the internal monologues and asides of the conflicted Macbeth, as he attempts to rationalize his own deeds in the face of what he views as an unjust act (being passed over for the crown). The sets are appropriately ominous–never too brightly-lit, and always containing an air of apprehension and uncertainty; the performances are carefully-etched and compelling; and the violence is very intimate–Polanski builds Shakespeare's patented mix of disapproval and disgust for Macbeth's actions, while keeping him grounded in a flawed humanity that lends him a degree of sympathy. "Macbeth" is an involving, richly layered adaptation that captures the nuance and effect of Shakespeare's language without compromising its intricacy.