Macbeth

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Introduction


An immediate contrast between Shakespeare’s original version of the opening scene of Macbeth and Polanski’s film adaptation is the difference of the times in which each of the versions was produced. Shakespeare wrote and staged his production for a 17th Century audience whereas Polanski produced his film for a more sophisticated audience in which he had to translate the scenes using a variety of techniques, and this proved a huge advantage. Polanski was able to explore a character in a way in which it was impossible to do on stage. Film is obviously more advanced than techniques in Shakespeare’s time, and then again a modern day audience would find it harder to relate to as this scene we do not believe in the influence of witchcraft so strongly any more. A 17th Century audience would have a far better grip and understanding of the play as its themes were relevant to the topical issues of the day. This is why modern day directors must create new ideas to portray Shakespeare’s plays, so that people can relate to them.


Shakespeare found himself writing in times where witchcraft was seen to be a very common practise arousing a great deal of speculation and fear. Hundreds of people were executed because it was thought they were practising witchcraft. Thus by introducing the theme of witchcraft in the opening scene Shakespeare was able to capture the imagination of his audience. Film directors like Polanski who are attempting to translate Shakespeare’s themes for a modern day audience must use a variety of techniques to convey the atmosphere of the original. Any director who is wishing to create his own production of Macbeth must create an atmosphere for the scene, setting an ominous mood which will grab an audience’s attention.


Polanski had a definite advantage over Shakespeare because a film scene such as this one is so difficult to recreate on stage. This raises the question of what Shakespeare could actually do? There was no television in those days, he made the most out of what he had. Shakespeare’s sound and visual effects were simple and primitive and other than this he could do no more to create the atmosphere specified as the play was performed in the hours of daylight.


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Setting


Shakespeare’s setting is described as an ‘open place’ with thunder and lightning in the background However, in Polanski’s film the opening scene is set on an open desolate beach with the tide out and the sand expanding into the horizon. Cliffs which run alongside the beach contradict the feeling of openness perhaps echoing one of the themes of the play, that of contradiction. We notice at the start of Polanski’s film there is a lone bird in the sky. This could represent a sign of normal life compared to the abnormality of what is about to occur. Shakespeare’s use of thunder and lightning in the scene is significant as in superstitious times it was believed that fierce storms released forces of evil, and were omens of unrest in individual people and even whole countries. Polanski however, chooses to open his scene with a red sky which acts as a warning, predicting bad weather, a sign that would be familiar to a modern audience.


In this way Polanski seems to subtly suggest the disruption which is to follow in Scotland due to the murder of the rightful king by his kinsman Macbeth. His approach is original and the landscape he chooses suggests that no living person should be able to survive in such surroundings and conditions making the environment seem at once both realistic and yet set apart from the everyday world. The scene ends with fog which thickens and obscures the landscape. This appears to refer to an occasion later on in the play when Lady Macbeth asks in scene 5 for, ‘thick night to pall in the dunnest smoke of hell’, calling on the powers of darkness and evil to help her plot Duncan’s murder. This leaves the viewer with a sense of uneasiness and draws us into a world of intrigue which is mysterious and yet somehow believable.


In contrast the seventeenth century Shakespeare could do very little about creating scenery and the only use of colour was when the stage was draped in black to represent tragedy, therefore he concentrated on language and dramatic effectiveness with simple easily recognisable effects.


Sound and Music


The sound and music which is used in Polanski’s film is very different from that which Shakespeare would have used in his production. Shakespeare’s ‘thunder and lightning’ recreated using a large drum or by banging implements together was effective in the seventeenth century as it was immediately identifiable as a sign of evil, due to the belief that fierce storms released or were caused by forces of evil. Nowadays the idea of witchcraft is mocked because people are far less superstitious. We do not associate thunder and lightning with evil the way a seventeenth century audience did. It is necessary therefore for directors today to use far more striking effects to catch the attention of the audience.


Polanski uses silence to create tension and interrupts this with a series of disturbing sounds. In Polanski’s film, the cry of a gull flying over the beach suggests the disruption of silence that would otherwise prevail on the deserted beach. Also to be heard is a distant scream which is an effective technique in unsettling the viewer before revealing the witches. Also if we listen carefully to the witches, one of them has a wheezing cough which is perhaps a sign of disease or death. As well as this there is a creaking noise heard coming from the cart the three witches use to transport the ingredients of their strange spell.


We also notice one particular tune played at intervals throughout the film which has an odd tuneless discordant effect suggestive of bagpipes which reinforces the Scottish theme of the play as well as suggesting distortion and evil. This has a dramatic effect as we hear it before the witches appear and as they depart. Another technique which is used by Polanski to creative effect is the use of the camera. He begins and ends with long shots of the beach but he focuses mainly on the witches and their features. This conveys that they definitely arrive at the beach with deliberate intentions. Also all the images are clearly defined until the point where the mist intensifies and the witches vanish mysteriously.


Props


In Shakespeare’s time props were very limited and in some cases they were dispensed with altogether. In Act 1 Scene 1 there is no mention of props but nowadays modern directors like Polanski would use props very often and audiences are likely to expect such things. For example, a witch’s cauldron which is a common token of witchcraft is used in many versions but Polanski avoids traditional props like this and instead he creates his own.


He announces the witches’ presence with a stick scraping in the sand. This is clever because it is at first unsettling but then creates a false sense of security from which the grotesque nature of the scene unfolds, as the witches go on to produce a severed hand which holds a dagger. These could be associated with evil and weapons of today as well as suggestingforthcoming murder of Duncan by Macbeth. Polanski also uses a hangman’s noose which could be related to the death of the Thane of Cawdor, an event we witness for ourselves in the film. There is a possibility that this could be linked with the fate of Macbeth, a fellow traitor.


The three witches appear to sprinkle herbs on these items which could suggest some sort of magical spell. It might also symbolise seeds sown by the witches, which will later grow, for instance the seeds of Macbeth’s ambition which spur him on to murder. The objects are then buried and blood is sprinkled from a phial over the sand. Blood is usually associated with death and evil which relates to Macbeth. The witches then draw a circle in the sand with the old withered bent stick that we saw earlier in the scene. The circle is known to be a magic symbol and this heightens the sense that a spell has been cast. Then all three spit three times each to seal the spell. This is again significant because multiples of three were considered as magic numbers. The fact that the objects were buried reinforces the theme of evil and death and suggests that evil will work in mysterious ways. The reason why the witches bury them might perhaps be to create a hidden force which mysteriously influences events and this also reinforces the sense that the witches are an underlying influence in the play.


The witches have serious intentions which are obvious as the manner of the burial is so formal and ritualistic, suggesting the casting of a spell. The sense of unnaturalness is reinforced when the witches leave no footprints as they walk away,underlining the suggestion of their supernatural powers.


Witches


The only occasion when the witches appearance is mentioned in Macbeth is in Act 1 Scene , where they are described as “withered and wild in their attire”. In the seventeenth century when Shakespeare was writing and directing he was there to instruct people on the actor’s costumes but nowadays it is up to the director to decide how and when an actor wears a costume. Polanski has the three witches dressed in a mixture of filthy old rags and more conventional robes which gives them a sense of evil yet a hint of normality. The eldest witch seems to be more stereotypical than the other two in terms of her dress as she is clothed in black robes with a long cloak and a black headdress which covers everything except her face and ears. As Polanski uses his camera effects to zoom in on the witches faces, we also see that the eyes of the eldest witch are covered in skin. This indicates a theme of unnaturalness. The middle aged witch is dressed quite conventionally with a headdress which covers her ears and she seems respectable and ordinary. This perhaps suggests how evil and witchcraft can permeate even the most “normal” individuals. An other thing is that she appears to be deaf yet she is able to communicate with the others. The youngest witch is roughly in her twenties and does not speak so we assume that she is dumb. We notice that she has dirty fair hair and red blotches on her face and she seems to be somewhat reliant on the eldest witch perhaps acting as an apprentice, learning her craft.


The witches seem to be harmless when they first appear but this is a deceptive quality. Polanski’s witches do not display traditional properties and this indicates witchcraft is not the stereotypical preserve of cackling hags, pointy hats and broomsticks that we may have imagined. Indeed it appears much more unsettling as the witches commence their solemn ritual. It seems that they all need each other to survive and they work as a unit. It is also hinted that each of them has given one of their senses to the devil in return for supernatural powers. Therefore we are reminded of the saying ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ We notice that they have similar accents and they remain seriously absorbed in their task. However, we are given the impression that each of them has an individual personality. Polanski mixes hints of normality and deformity creating a sense of disquiet which turns to horror, as the witches reveal their more gruesome side to shock the viewer.


Text and Conclusion


When Shakespeare was producing scripts he was communicating to an early Jacobean audience and did so as realistically as he could. Polanski basically does the same for a modern audience therefore. Although he sticks mainly to Shakespeare’s dialogue he has altered the text to suit the target audience. Polanski firstly transfers the rhyming couplet that ends the scene to the beginning. “Fair is foul and foul is fair, hover through the fog and filthy air” The witches chant this individually in a ritualistic tone which suggests the perversion of a Christian prayer as they walk around the burial spot having sealed their spell. The use of this opening line makes the scene sound more mysterious and strange. The riddle emphasises the idea of good versus evil and suggests the deceptive nature of appearances working with the imagery of a red sky which fades to grey to reinforce the suggestion that all that appears “fair” at the start will become “foul” in the end. Polanski drops the references to the witches’ familiar spirits Paddock and Greymalkin probably because they would be less meaningful for a modern audience. The early Jacobean audience would have recognised such superstitions due to their widespread concerns about witchcraft. A consequence of Polanski’s alterations is that Macbeth’s name now occurs at the end of the scene where the second witch pauses with dramatic emphasis “there to meet with…Macbeth” This seems to highlight the main character acting as a perfect introduction for the title sequence. It also directly connects the witches ritual with Macbeth and implies they are responsible for his fate.


Shakespeare was often impeded by the fact that when on stage actors had to leave through a curtain or door, but Polanski does not have to overcome this problem. His witches walk away from the burial spot, two together and one dragging a cart. The camera zooms in to show them departing. The mist then rises and intensifies to the point where the witches are no longer visible. Then the title “MACBETH” appears with background music. The witches leave no visible trace of their presence on the sand, suggesting they have been hovering or gliding along. This is a visual equivalent of the fog and filthy air which Shakespeare uses to end the scene.


In Polanski’s film the opening scene acts as a prologue which is shown just before the title. This can be conveyed as showing that Macbeth is not wholly responsible for his own downfall and is somehow driven on in his ambition by the witches Macbeth’s reaction to the witches predictions in Act 1 Scene suggests he already longed to become king, however, the witches appear to trigger ambition.


Polanski takes artistic liberties which work to translate Shakespeare’s key themes for a modern audience. He has a mysterious atmospheric style which creates a threatening impression and disturbs the audience. However it seems to be quite realistic in the medium of film and clearly has several advantages over stage performances. The stage in many respects is very limited especially in Shakespeare’s time period. The use of props and special effects were very basic and there was little or no lighting as the play had to be performed in daylight. The main advantage of stage performances was that you could see the actors live. There are obviously many more advantages in film, one of which is the opportunity to rerecord scenes until the director feels that the scene is perfect. This means there are fewer mistakes than on stage. There are also many camera angles and editing techniques which can be used to great effect.


Polanski was able to use light, sound and fog effects which were created to suit the situation. He could also film many scenes at different locations. These factors enabled him to make Act 1 Scene 1 more effective. Polanski could use special effects but Shakespeare would have found it difficult to create an ‘open place’ on stage and relied on his text and actors to convey his themes.


In conclusion, whatever way you look at it Macbeth is a skilfully written play which still remains popular both on stage and in film nearly four hundred years after it was originally written and performed.





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