Macbeth (1979)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Best movie of this year hands down!

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

I am an English/Drama teacher, I just showed this to my seniors. I admit there are few good versions of Macbeth on film. However, this made my skin crawl. After spending five weeks in class reading the play, my students actually enjoyed it and understood it. With Ian McKellan and Judi Dench, I was certain this would be top quality, but sadly I was wrong. The costumes were nonsensical. The actors moved between hideous over-acting and don't-care-just-pay-me-already-under-acting. I almost wondered if they were on some form of hallucinogenic drug while performing. I have never been more disappointed by something I thought spark further interest for the students. As someone who has directed Shakespeare, I understand the limited use of props and background, however the whole thing looks a bad early MTV music video. I expected Gary Neumann to come out and sing "Cars." Say what you want about the bizarre Roman Polanski version, at least that one is inspired by some form of creativity.

This version is set in approximately the late 19th century by costuming. There is no scenery and very few props. The characters act against a black background. Acting itself is superb. Macbeth & the Witches are appropriately frothing at the mouth at the proper times. Ian McKellen & Judi Dench perform their standard great performances. Ian McDiarmid does a great job as the Porter. That is particularly significant, as it is one of the few comical parts in a very gloomy play.However, I miss the scenery & traditional costuming. McKellen explains in an extra on the DVD that all the costuming, scenery & props (including Macbeth's shrunken heads at the end – a little much ???) were all provided for only £250. He calls the production one of "talking heads". Well, that's true, as for a very large part all you see is the characters' faces against a black background. Personally I look for something more in a Shakespeare production. I believe the scenery & costuming to be important in setting the scene. Shakespeare is difficult enough to understand when set with scenery & costumes. When scenery & costumes are taken out, then it becomes more difficult to understand. I feel too much is left to the imagination or to the guesswork of the viewer. If one has the text to follow along with, accompanied with footnotes & a Shakespeare glossary, then it's less of a problem. But then one can't just sit back & enjoy the play. One must constantly refer to the text footnotes to understand what is happening, unless one is a real Shakespeare aficionado.If all you want is great acting full of emotion and you don't care about lack of scenery or costumes, then perhaps this version of Macbeth is for you. Occasionally the dialog is cut or changed from one character to another, presumably for no other reason than to give that actor some lines. But personally I miss the scenery, costuming and sword play. As McKellen explains, except for the acting itself, this is certainly a cheap version of Macbeth. As long as the production saved a lot of money in production, I recommend you do likewise and look for another version of Macbeth. There are lots of well acted versions out there that spent money on scenery & costumes.

This TV version of Macbeth is absolutely fabulous. I was skeptical at first - thought the play couldn't be done well to a camera, but I was dead wrong. Review the story (you can google it online) before watching, to make sure you have all the characters straight, and then you'll be ready to sit back (or I should say SIT UP!) and enjoy this chilling story of what happens when ambition becomes lust. The witch scenes are as creepy as I've ever seen them done, almost Satanic. The "Out out, damned spot" scene is frightening, pitiful, spooky...Judy Dench is the BEST!! And the most outstanding scene of all is the dining scene, when Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost - I've never seen it done this way, and it was awesome, disturbing, scary, and satisfying. Gotta love the Scottish play!!Added bonus, if you get the DVD, is a long interview with Ian McKellen - a Shakespeare education in a nutshell from one of the great British actors of our time. That alone is worth the price. This would be great in a classroom.

Possible to find a "perfect" adaptation of a Shakespeare play? If this production isn't it, I don't know what is. The entire script is used to full effect, with magnificent performances all round. Shakespeare's portrait of human evil has never looked better.