TWO VERSIONS OF A MASTERPIECE
Comparing Polanski and Kurzel’s Macbeths…
We are going to talk about two different ‘works of art’, two masterpieces that are based on
the same play but have a lot of differences: we will analyse some aspects of Polanski’s
version of Macbeth and of Kurzel’s version of the same opus.
Macbeth is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare between 1599 and 1606. It is
Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy and it tells about the general Macbeth who is consumed by
ambition: inspired by his wife, he commits the most terrible crime – he kills a King.
Set mainly in Scotland, this play shows the effects of ambition when it has no control
whatsoever, and how the sense of guilt can destroy a man.
Polanski’s version of 1971 lasts 140 minutes and it focuses on the extremely violent, gloomy
themes of the original play: we have to remember that this is the first film that Polanski
shoots after the murder of his wife and friends by Charles Manson’s sect. It can be said that
with this film, full of sickening scenes and deeply disturbing murders, Polanski sought a kind
of catharsis. An example could be the scene when Macbeth’s soldiers break into Macduff’s
castle, with all the horrible murders and the rapes.
In general, the film is full of ghosts, hallucinations and explosions of violence, and Polanski is
obviously putting his personal obsessions into the film and his particular emotional state
influences his work. Polanski seems to lose his usual elegance. In general, the film conveys
an idea of insecurity: the characters constantly swing between clarity and madness, but
despite the dialogues are faithful to the original the opera fails to achieve the poetic power
of the original play and does not convey the tragic in the same way. Polanski tries to reduce
the epic of the narration to universalise the tragedy, and creates something that everyone
could recognise themselves in.
The only flaw of many foreign versions is the horrible dubbing: if someone wants to
appreciate this film, they should absolutely watch it with the original language.
Kurzel’s version of Macbeth is very different from Polanski’s, in many aspects. Kurzel uses
the setting, Scotland, flawlessly and its amazing landscape perfectly communicates the
feelings of loneliness and isolation of the two main characters: Macbeth and his wife. And
even the scenes that are set in the interior of the castle, with its huge and empty rooms
communicate an idea of awful abandonment.
Personally, I prefer Kurzel’s choice of actors rather than Polanski’s. Fassbender is perfect in
the role of the warrior who fails and falls in a bloody rage, and Cotillard conveys the idea of a
femininity frustrated by a son’s death that poisons the spirit.
The director also uses the light in a very skillful way: the sky and the environment are often
dark, and this is perfectly in tune with the mood of the characters and the tragedy itself.
The particularity of this version is also the psychoanalytic interpretation of the dramatic
situation and this idea that the behavior of the two main characters seems to be the
consequence of the death of the baby. Indeed this idea reappears in several parts of the
film: at the beginning, then in the sleepwalking scene and even the three witches hold a
newborn baby when they appear.
Someone says that with this masterpiece, Shakespeare anticipated the idea of the PostTraumatic Stress Disorder: in fact all the terrible things that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth do,
seem to be the terrible consequence of the trauma of the baby’s death. Kurzel highlight this
particular aspect of the story.
Another peculiarity of this version is the way Kurzel shows the effect of insomnia on
Macbeth, and how important that is in the development of his character.
It is appreciable that a young director tries to revive a masterpiece in a very particular way
and originally matches his work with the work of masters like Polanski, Wells or Kurosawa.
However, from the point of view of the direction, Polanski uses many long takes, and his
huge ability emerges in his attention to details and careful directing skills.
Kurzel, on his part, constantly changes the shot and uses several sudden and disconnected
cuts, and in some scenes destroys the tension with some peculiar directorial choices.
Daniele B.
4LSU