An absolutely disgusting production of Macbeth. To summarize: a chaotic, badly shot mass of gore, blood, and sex with disgusting misogyny thrown in and laced with disturbing, sadomasochistic, homoerotic overtones (the execution of the thane of cawdor). I'm not a sex fearing puritan, but this was simply blood and sex for the sake of blood and sex--and therefore disgusting. The whole various implied subplots--Ross's villainy, Donalbain's jealousy--were useless, annoying, and frankly perverting of the entire production.
The soliloquy-voice overs were an awful idea. The actors, almost all from the Royal Shakespeare company, were all wonderful--but had to stand like corpses or Keanu Reeves on set, staring blankly and coldly into space while their pre recorded voices blabbed on in their minds. What it loses therein is so much of the possible emotion and life found in any actual half-decent production. It is truly more realistic--but simply badly done and mutilating of the actor's abilities. For example: Banquo's soliloquy ("Thou hast it now: king, cawdor, glamis, all. As the weird women promised. And I do fear thou didst play most fouly for it) is laden with confusion, accusation, jealously, pain, hate, love; a mix of emotions that is carelessly discarded as Banquo merely stands on a Scottish heath, staring at macbeth. the emotions of his face, the language of his body, all that could be there if he spoke was lost. Tragically.
The misogyny of the play, again, was explicitly disturbing--but then, what can one expect from the director of Rosemary's Baby?
The soliloquy-voice overs were an awful idea. The actors, almost all from the Royal Shakespeare company, were all wonderful--but had to stand like corpses or Keanu Reeves on set, staring blankly and coldly into space while their pre recorded voices blabbed on in their minds. What it loses therein is so much of the possible emotion and life found in any actual half-decent production. It is truly more realistic--but simply badly done and mutilating of the actor's abilities. For example: Banquo's soliloquy ("Thou hast it now: king, cawdor, glamis, all. As the weird women promised. And I do fear thou didst play most fouly for it) is laden with confusion, accusation, jealously, pain, hate, love; a mix of emotions that is carelessly discarded as Banquo merely stands on a Scottish heath, staring at macbeth. the emotions of his face, the language of his body, all that could be there if he spoke was lost. Tragically.
The misogyny of the play, again, was explicitly disturbing--but then, what can one expect from the director of Rosemary's Baby?