Macbeth, Thane of Glamis, receives a prediction from three witches that he will soon be Thane of Cawdor and later King of Scotland. When the former comes to pass his ambitions are stoked. Spurred on by the even more ambitious Lady Macbeth, he murders King Duncan and assumes the throne. This will not be the end of his killing but forces are being assembled to thwart his ambition and stop his rampage.
Directed and written by the great Orson Welles, a decent adaptation of Shakespeare's classic play. Through the use of black and white cinematography, dimly lit settings and fog, Welles creates an even darker version of what was already a dark play.
Adding to this is good cast who all put in solid performances with Welles as Macbeth to the fore.
Despite the dark atmosphere, the film still has a dry, by-the-book feel to it. This is always a problem with Shakespeare adaptations: the more faithful you are to the original play, the drier and less accessible the film is. In these cases it helps to already know the plot so that you don't have to figure it out from the Shakespearean dialogue.
Welles does mitigate against some of the usual dialogue issues by the use of visual cues and camera angles, making it is a bit more accessible, but the wordiness can still be a be a bit of problem, especially for the uninitiated.
Overall, an interesting, faithful adaptation.
Directed and written by the great Orson Welles, a decent adaptation of Shakespeare's classic play. Through the use of black and white cinematography, dimly lit settings and fog, Welles creates an even darker version of what was already a dark play.
Adding to this is good cast who all put in solid performances with Welles as Macbeth to the fore.
Despite the dark atmosphere, the film still has a dry, by-the-book feel to it. This is always a problem with Shakespeare adaptations: the more faithful you are to the original play, the drier and less accessible the film is. In these cases it helps to already know the plot so that you don't have to figure it out from the Shakespearean dialogue.
Welles does mitigate against some of the usual dialogue issues by the use of visual cues and camera angles, making it is a bit more accessible, but the wordiness can still be a be a bit of problem, especially for the uninitiated.
Overall, an interesting, faithful adaptation.