MACBETH. Title: MACBETH Year: 2015/2016 Director: JUSTIN HORZEL Country: United Kingdom, France, United States of America Language: English

Transcription

1 MACBETH Title: MACBETH Year: 2015/2016 Director: JUSTIN HORZEL Country: United Kingdom, France, United States of America Language: English

2 The story is set in Scotland, during King Duncan's reign. The film starts with Macbeth's son s funeral which immediately gives the idea of a tragic story. After that, there is a fight: the Scottish army go against Norway and Ireland. Macbeth and Banquo, two of Duncan's bravest captains, are retourning from the battle when they encounter three witches, which greet Macbeth as "Thane of Cawdor" and tell him he shall become king, but also that Banquo's son will be king. Macbeth and Banquo are amazed when some of the king's men arrive and confer on Macbeth the title of Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth sends a letter to his wife, Lady Macbeth, telling everything. The couple, priked by ambition, plans and carries out the murder of Duncan: during the night, Macbeth kills the king and scares the king's son, but he feels upset, so Lady Macbeth takes control of the situation and deflects suspicions on the guards. Macbeth becomes king and tries to kill Banquo and his son: Banquo dies but his son Fleance survives. Macbeth, consumed by anxiety and fear, goes to the three witches again, which say that «no man born from woman will ever kill him». Macbeth thinks he is invincible and grows more reckless. Lady Macbeth, who is tortured by her sense of guilt, commits suicide. Meanwhile, Duncan's sons and their loyal followers, which are in exile, plan to kill Macbeth: the royal castle is attacked and Macbeth is killed.

3 MOST IMPORTANT SCENES AND THEMES The most important and meaningful scenes are: the greeting of the three witches, which gives the idea of a looming fate; the dialogue between Macbeth and his wife, when she unveils her plan to murder king Duncan, because it conveys the idea of violence, choices and personal ambition the most important themes; Lady Macbeth s monologue when she commits sucide, which gives the idea of human values and highlights her repentance for her first action and for having made a monster of her housband (love theme). Macbeth's monologues are also important because they make us understand the effects that the murder of the king and all that violence and ambition have had on Macbeth.

4 MAIN CHARACTERS MACBETH is a warrior. At the beginning he is respectful to the king but after murdering Duncan he changes and becomes a murderer and a tyrant. When he realizes that he and his wife had been instruments of the fate to allow Banquo's son to become king, he becomes insane, at the end. LADY MACBETH: At the beginning she is blind because of her ambition, but in the end she commits suicide because she realizes what she had done. She is a very strong woman, and she seems to be the cause of everything Macbeth does.

5 Secondary characters THE THREE WITCHES: They make the predictions giving origin and creating the events of the story.

6 Colour and perspective The film uses RED in many scenes to emphasize the violence and to highlight that Macbeth's life, after the murder, can never be as before, because the blood in his hands will never go away. There are lots of CLOSE-UPS to focus attention on the characters' emotion.

7 The film uses silence during fights and often during the development of the story to highlight characters' emotions. The soundtrack gives "power" and emphasizes some scenes SOUND

8 Macbeth, the film, has been created for those who have already read the shakespearian work, otherwise it becomes very difficult to understand the story. Nonethless, the film is very well shot, full of emotions and engaging moments. My favourite scene is the monologue of Lady Macbeth with her dead son's ghost: I think it's really moving the way she manifests her nostalgia and love for him; she is impressively convincing!