Macbeth Blu-ray Review
This 'Macbeth' is full of sound and fury, signifying quite a lot.
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, August 29, 2012
Do theatrical superstitions hold sway over film? If so, should we refrain from naming this film? Those of you who have
acted or have some theatrical knowledge will probably be aware that it is
verboten to actually even mention the
name
Macbeth in a backstage environment, and so the Shakespeare classic is usually referred to as "the
Scottish play" by actors and other creative folk. The origins of this
strange superstition are somewhat murky, but Orson Welles evidently took that "Scottish play" rubric to heart, for when
he filmed
Macbeth in 1948, one of his most unusual decisions was to have the cast recite The Bard's eloquent
poetry in heavily accented Scottish brogues, accents which audiences at the time found largely incomprehensible,
necessitating a re-recording of the soundtrack with more moderate speech patterns. The actor-director probably most
associated with film adaptations of Shakespeare is Laurence Olivier, and in fact Olivier's
Henry V, though initially
filmed in 1944, had only made its American debut a couple of years before Welles' version of
Macbeth hit
theaters. The Welles film was roundly derided at the time of its release, and Olivier's efforts remained the paradigm of
what expert film adaptations of Shakespeare should be all about, but now with the vantage point of hindsight, Welles'
film seems at least the equal to Olivier's outings, and in some ways perhaps even superior. Filled with a brooding,
quasi-hallucinatory quality, this is a
Macbeth that mines the subtext of Shakespeare's story of a power mad
Scotsman and his equally (perhaps even more so) power mad wife. The play is often considered among the most
troubling in Shakespeare's
oeuvre, a frightening and presciently Freudian examination of the devolution of one
character's psyche due to both internal and external influences. Welles' vision here is appropriately shaded, and he
brings the same visual ingenuity he brought to his previous film creations, as well as a bracing performance style that is
shared among a company that includes several names which are now relatively well known but which in 1946 were
either not known at all or were certainly not ever thought of in a classical setting like a Shakespeare play.
One of the most interesting things that Welles does with his adaptation of
Macbeth is push the Three Witches
front and center, emphasizing their obviously pagan roots and contrasting that against a culture where Christianity was
beginning to have a significant toehold. This also plays into the whole moral subtext of the film, for at its core,
Macbeth is a piece about the corrosive effects of conscience. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth (Jeanette Nolan in
her
first major film role) are devious schemers, but the fact remains they may have gotten away with their nefarious plans,
not
to mention their manifold murders, had not the internal conflict perpetrated by incipient guilt complexes intruded.
Welles' visual mastery is also well on display throughout this film. Welles was beginning to have to deal with smaller
and smaller budgets, but
Macbeth rarely if ever shows its seams. Welles and his cinematographer John L.
Russell brilliantly utilize shadow to mask sets that might otherwise look a little on the cheesy side. The film is awash in
bizarre rock formations which seems to echo Macbeth's deteriorating mental state. Welles also isn't shy about using
extreme camera angles to emphasize the inner worlds of the characters, and there are a couple of just plain weird but
wonderful moments, including when Macbeth stares at his bizarrely deformed reflection in a twisted mirror. All of these
elements make the film as visually stunning in its own way as was
Citizen Kane.
Critical response to
Macbeth at the time of its release was withering at best, and it's really not hard to
understand why. Compared to the relatively formal, restrained and classically theatrical renderings of Shakespeare in
the Olivier films,
Macbeth is almost like an example of Abstract Expressionism ported over to this tragedy of an
ancient Scottish general assuming the kingship under corrupt influences. In Welles' formulation, Macbeth isn't quite the
pawn that he might appear to be in Shakespeare's text. Here Macbeth seems to have a cracked psyche almost from
the get go, and if Lady Macbeth is able to exploit that fissure, who's to blame her?
Many critics and viewers alike have derided some of the performances in this
Macbeth, but I have to tell you
from my standpoint, if the film is accepted on its own hyperbolic merits, there is a uniform excellence in the major
players here that is to be relished. Welles' performance is one of his most over the top, especially as the film careens
toward its bloody climax. With his eyes alternately haunted and menacing, and his face an almost gargoyle-like grimace
as madness descends, this is Welles at his most theatrical, and it's a riveting ride virtually every step of the way. Nolan
is perhaps too taciturn to fully convey the sort of animal magnetism that Lady Macbeth needs to have, but in a couple of
fleeting scenes, there are copious hints given that she has the wiles to play Macbeth like a finely tuned violin. The
supporting cast here is also quite interesting. Dan O'Herlihy makes an appealing Macduff and a barely older than
adolescent Roddy McDowall is a callow Malcolm.
Welles' emendations and condensations of the original Shakespeare may raise purists' hackles, but the fact is even
Olivier toyed with the original texts of the plays he ended up filming. (Read along with
Hamlet, for example, as
Olivier's film unfolds for some illuminating revelations.)
Macbeth was shot quickly on a veritable shoestring and
Welles simply may have made some of the cuts for timeliness sake, but even in this altered form, this is a bristling and
even disturbing version of Shakespeare's enduring tragedy. The film has had its own kind of tragic history, as so many
of Welles' offerings seemed to. It was cut and recut, redubbed and rescored, all in an attempt to eke out a profit as it
went through at least a couple of theatrical exhibitions over a span of several years. But like so many of Welles' films,
even the meddling influence of studio executives couldn't completely diminish the inherent genius that was at least
sporadically on display throughout the enterprise. This may in fact not be a paradigmatic
Macbeth, but it is most
certainly an unforgettable one.
Macbeth Blu-ray, Video Quality
Macbeth is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. Evaluating
the image quality of
Macbeth must take into consideration the film's fairly tortuous history. Some who aren't aware
of the manifold edits and ultimate restoration of this film who are seeing it for the first time may look at my 3.5 video score
and think I'm out of my mind (so what else is new?). There are massive changes in density, sharpness, clarity and also
different levels of damage throughout some of these elements, but taken as a whole, the bulk of
Macbeth looks
quite good indeed. Black levels are absolutely lustrous most of the time and the deep
chiaroscuro cinematography
by John L. Russell (who would go on to lens Hitchcock's
Psycho) bristles with moodiness. There are a number of
issues, however, and those who have never seen this title should be aware of them (those who
have seen this
restored version in its previous home video incarnations shouldn't be too surprised). A number of elements which have
been restored are obviously not from the same generation that the bulk of the film is sourced from, with increased grain,
fuzziness and lessened contrast, and several of the opticals look pretty shoddy as well. Scratches occasionally show up as
do minor flecks and specks. These are fairly transitory issues, however, in what is easily the best
Macbeth has ever
looked in any home video format.
Macbeth Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation
I have a deep and abiding admiration for a number of film adaptations of Shakespeare's work, including the great Olivier
outings, Zeffirelli's
Romeo and Juliet and even Branagh's somewhat stiff
Hamlet, but I can honestly say few
have affected me on such a subliminal level as Welles' moody take on
Macbeth. The film has a near hallucinatory
quality that makes it one of the most unusual and compelling film versions of any Shakespeare play. Welles pulls out all the
stops, both from the standpoint of showy camera work and from his and his company's performances. This
Macbeth
plays almost like a horror film at times, and considering its source material, that may be entirely appropriate. This Blu-ray
offers a considerably improved general level of image quality, though those who have never seen this film in its restored
form before may be disappointed in the drastic levels of change various elements display. Even those anomalies shouldn't
keep you away from this title.
Highly recommended.
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