Macbeth Movie Critical Review

Charles Spencer

Ms. Peifer

English 10 IB 4^th Hour

April 11, 2011

                                                     2010 Macbeth Film Critical Review

           The 2010 film adaptation of William Shakespeare's historic tragedy, Macbeth, is a well-organized work of theatrical art. Directed by Rupert Goold and starring Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood, the film adaptation surpasses the expectations held to a re-imagining of a stage classic. While not free of shortcomings, Goold's vision successfully shines through in his creative modern imagery, ultimately creates a bone chilling rendition of Macbeth for today's generation.

           Goold's version of Macbeth, released in 2010, reaches success in uniquely portraying the protagonist by modernizing the setting and context of the story. He uses modern wartime imagery to mirror the original images used by William Shakespeare, making the plot more easily understood to the viewers of today's generation. The film is set in World War I Soviet Russia, as apposed to medieval Scotland, and changes elements from the original story to fit the new time line. By Goold using the Soviet era, he mirrors the warfare of old Scotland, using modern weapons, locations, and occupations to tell the story of Macbeth in ways more understood by younger viewers.

           Perhaps the most successful modern image used by Goold is his interpretation of the Weird Sisters as war nurses. In the original play, Shakespeare portrays the witches as evil and eerie by their actions, which at the time would seem to be so. As standing over a flaming cauldron chanting folklore would make much of today's youth think of a magical fantasy, Goold modernized the witches actions to mirror their original portrayal. For example, when Macbeth sees the witches the final time to assure himself of his safety, they are seen poking and prodding with dead bodies, an action seen most eerie in popular culture today. Not only do these nurses make appearances throughout the film as the Weird sisters, they are also seen throughout where not seen in the play, however only to be seen by Macbeth and the audience. Their unscripted cameos substantially add to the image of their presence and power over Macbeth.

           Goold's modernization of Shakespeare's images is successful for the most part, however the main cons of the modern images are that the effect of some of the dialogue in Shakespeare's original rendition is lost. The use of modern props, locations, and time lines conflict with the still strictly Shakespearean script, making some of the script obsolete, and at times the setting has to stretch too far to match the script. Most outstanding, the use of modern weapons does not match the script. Many of the characters' weapons are replaced with guns and daggers, which severely takes away from the epic effects of sword battle, especially in the last battle between Macduff and Macbeth where daggers are used.

           When reinventing a classic for the silver screen, there are several things that can go wrong, especially when this classic is a theater work of William Shakespeare. Despite this, Rupert Goold recreates William Shakespeare's Macbeth with the help of a strong cast including Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood. Instead of simply recreating the setting of the play, Goold takes a chance by modernizing the setting and the characters, and while some of the strength of Shakespeare's dialogue is taken away in the process, the ending result is a beautifully put together representation of Shakespeare's prowess as a playwright.