Exploring Macbeth

... yer but cannot pronuonce 'Amen', and he himslef thinks of this deeply. He knows himself that what he has done was wrong, and he acknowledges this by refusing to return to the scene of the murder. Shakespeare uses blood to almost 'stain' Macbeth's mind, marking him permanently as a murderer. Macbeth knows that a water can never get rid of the guilt. In conclusion if I was to direct a film version of the play I would use a shadow effect to create the illusion of a dagger, as this was the most successful way of performing it out of the three different versions I have seen. Also, I would choose not to show the murder of Duncan on stage because I think it s better to leave what happened to the audience's imagination and not change the original writing, and the implications of the murder. In the Freestone version, Lady Macbeth helped to kill Duncan, which is not in the text, nor is it suggested that she did so. By doing that the director changed a lot of the complex storylines, which would have been best left untouched. Roman Polanski's version (1971) of the play doesn't change too much as it is for a cinema audience, and the people viewing it would have payed and would have been expecting a more conventional, unchanged 'Macbeth' because they made a deliberate choice to view it. On the other hand people watching 'Macbeth on the Estate' may not have wanted, or intended to see a Shakespeare film and may not normally opt to watch Shakespeare. Both versions are made with this in mind, and adapt the play accordingly.

The Polanski version opens with a long establishing shot, giving the viewer an idea of the settings. It is set on a beach, which is deserted and lifeless. The soundtrack plays a distorted string instrument with a regular piano note as an accompaniment, making for a very unusual effect, as it is playe ...