Macbeth the Movie: Where is the Love?

Courtesy of Netflix

I began watching the 2010 PBS version of Macbeth today, with the hope that my focus might shine through in some way. In the hour that I was able to watch (all I had time for today), I was sadly disappointed. Maybe this is what lends the play such a dreary, dark aspect. Of course, the movie did nothing to improve this feeling.

It has a World War II setting, although what side Macbeth fights for is pretty ambiguous. Duncan sort of resembles Hitler, so it's possible they are representing the German side. So far, everything has taken place in barracks made of cement with very little visual interest.

Some things I think the movie has done well so far:

• The setting is very bland and really forces the audience to pay attention completely to the actors. Yet it lends itself to visual interest and aesthetic when necessary.
• The witches were spot on. They don't have actual beards, but they were dressed as war nurses, so when they pulled their face masks down, they looked like beards. Their little satanic rituals were pretty realistic and unnerving. 
• It captures the raw violence of the play. I don't think they're overexaggerating this part, which is a little sickening.
• Lady Macbeth has the perfect amount of sex appeal and insanity. She's pretty but also skeletal looking. 
• The production design is very sparse, but they've done a good job. 
• I also recommend this movie to anyone doing sound. It's really interesting how they chose to do sound effects.

Some things not so good:

• Some parts are just a little too...creepy. For instance, the witches pull a heart out of a dead man's body to use for their ritual. Did not need to see that.
• The porter was a little too crude. Just not my cup of tea.

All in all, it has been interesting to look at, and I will do a deeper analysis when I finish the movie. 

Point of Decision

After killing Duncan, Lady Macbeth sees Macbeth with blood on his hands.

One thing my group talked a lot about in our discussion today was the reasons behind Macbeth's decision to murder King Duncan. It was clearly a choice. We just had a hard time deciphering his motivations.
Anyways, I was reading through the first scene again, and I found a soliloquy that might contain some reasoning behind Macbeth's actions.

This supernatural soliciting
Cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill,
Why hath it given me earnest of success
Commencing in a truth? I am Thane of Cawdor.
If good, why do I yield to that suggestion
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair
Against the use of nature? Present fears
Are less than horrible imaginings.
My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,
Shakes so my single state of man
That function is smothered in surmise,
And nothing is but what is not.

In this soliloquy, we can see Macbeth start to justify the murder he has committed already in his imagination. He says it "cannot be ill, cannot be good." So what is it then? He knows well enough that the witches have been right thus far. It's almost as if he wishes to prove all their words. 
Perhaps Macbeth has a fatalistic view, he does the deed because it has been foretold and there is no ignoring one's fate. This reminds me of Oedipus Rex a little. Oedipus brings about his fate despite doing everything to avold it. Macbeth does not possess the desire to avoid his fate.
Also, the witches do not tell him how his reign will end, only that Banquo will father a line of kings.
The introduction in the book also talks about Lady Macbeth being an influence on him. When she hears that Macbeth could become king, she doesn't hesitate to sell out.
My group also wondered if Macbeth was predisposed to the murder in some sense. He was at war for a long time. It's very possible that a few more dead bodies would not even cause him to blink.
What's interesting about the soliloquy is that Macbeth does acknowledge to a certain extent that what he plans is wrong. He talks about the horrid image of murder "unfixing" his hair.

So what is Shakespeare saying? It could be any number of things:

• You cannot escape your fate, so why try?
• Sometimes men do bad things because of our baser nature.
• Some men will do anything to achieve their ends.
• We as humans have a compulsive tendency towards curiosity.

He might be saying all or none of these things, but the point is that Macbeth causes us to consider morality and the line between ambition and evil.

"Double, Double, Toil and Trouble"

I would just like to take a moment to appreciate Shakespeare's genius in composing the language of the Weird Sisters in Macbeth. If you compare the sort of lines Macbeth or his wife are given, the Weird Sisters actually differentiate quite a bit.

• The rhythm is, I think similar, but the meter is completely different. Iambic quartameter (?) is what the witches use, (a little shorter than regular iambic pentameter) giving their dialogue a more snappy sound.

• An article found on JStor about the supernatural in Macbeth talks about the sounds used by the witches as well. Unfortunately, my internet is abominably slow and I could not access the full article. (For now at least, will update later).

• They also have rhymed couplets. One thing I like about Shakespeare is that he uses rhyme sparingly, which brings attention to when he does use it. The rhyming really works with the witches, in my opinion, because well, it makes them sound witchy. Maybe Shakespeare is why witches have this stereotype in the first place. 

• They talk about the grossest things, like procuring a "pilot's thumb" and seducing as many men as possible. 

I think the most exemplary offshoot of the Weird Sisters is the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus. Thank you Disney for integrating some actual literature once in a while!
If you watch this video, look closely at the blonde's behavior with "The Devil." She's not bearded but she is good at what she does...