In the following, the original play will be compared to the film adaptations by Roman Polanski in 1971 and by Justin Kurzel in 2015. Additionally, the most important scenes and essential details in all three will be analyzed.
Although technological progress affords humanity new possibilities in all sectors, be it communication systems, the news, education, bank transactions, or entertainment, it is inconceivable to dispense with books, letters or newspapers. Especially in the entertainment category, movies today are what novels were decades and centuries ago. They tell stories, history, sciences, etc. and like books they are grouped into various genres. By this observation they seem quite similar and the obvious difference is the textual information transfer of books compared to the audio-visual of movies.
Not only “Macbeth”, but most of Shakespeare’s plays have been turned into films. His plays are surprisingly relevant in contemporary life and school. They are an integral component of general knowledge. The significance of “Macbeth” is obvious when you see how often it was reused. Already by 1908, the director Stuart Blackton produced the first film version of Shakespeare’s tragedy whereon many more followed, the best known by Welles, Kurosawa and Polanski. But how could these two famous directors transfer Shakespeare’s stage play into movies? Is the content adopted accurately or is it falsified? And what changes were accidentally or deliberately made?
Table of Contents
1 Introduction and problem
2 “Macbeth” – the play in comparison with two film adaptations
2.1 First scene – Act 1 Scene 1 in the play
2.2 Second scene – Act 3 Scene 4 in the play
2.3 Third scene – Act 5 Scene 8 in the play
3 Formal differences between play and both film adaptations
4 Conclusion
Objectives & Thematic Focus
The primary objective of this paper is to conduct a comparative analysis of William Shakespeare's play "Macbeth" and its two prominent film adaptations directed by Roman Polanski (1971) and Justin Kurzel (2015), examining how the directors translated the stage play into the cinematic medium and identifying both deliberate and accidental deviations from the original source material.
- Analysis of scene-specific narrative and dialogue adaptations across the three versions.
- Evaluation of character development and portrayal of madness in the protagonists.
- Examination of formal cinematic elements such as atmosphere, setting, and use of music.
- Comparison of the depiction of violence, sexuality, and ritualistic imagery.
- Assessment of the directors' distinct artistic choices and their impact on the audience's perception of the tragedy.
Excerpt from the Book
2.3 Third scene – Act 5 Scene 8 in the play
In the penultimate scene of this stage play it finally comes to the “Catastrophe” for the main character, as is typical in a tragedy. After the suicide of his wife, the English army with Macbeth’s enemies, Malcolm and Macduff amongst others, arrive at his castle. They want to fight Macbeth, so Malcolm, the rightful heir to king Duncan, becomes king. Like in the first scene, Polanski changes the dialog here. He even cut out some lines that are important for the story and therefore the meaning of the end changes a bit: Macduff tells Macbeth that he “was from his mother’s womb Untimely ripped”, (Shakespeare 1606, 94). This is so important because the prophecy said, Macbeth can only be killed by a man who is not born by a woman.
Macbeth answers but his last sentence is deleted: “I’ll not fight with thee (Macduff).” Instead he exclaims that he will not yield. In the play between those two statements, Macduff offers him to yield. The difference to the play is that the main character is portrayed as more narcissistic and obsessed with power and doesn’t want the witches’ prophecy to come true.
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction and problem: This chapter introduces the context of adapting Shakespeare's plays for film and states the research goal of comparing the original text with the 1971 and 2015 adaptations.
2 “Macbeth” – the play in comparison with two film adaptations: This chapter analyzes three key scenes (Act 1 Scene 1, Act 3 Scene 4, and Act 5 Scene 8) to investigate how Polanski and Kurzel modified the dialogue, structure, and characterization.
3 Formal differences between play and both film adaptations: This chapter explores technical and thematic variations, specifically focusing on the use of violence, sexuality, and the influence of modern cinematic technology on the narrative style.
4 Conclusion: This chapter summarizes the findings, emphasizing that while both films remain largely true to the original play, they interpret the tragedy differently based on the directors' artistic vision and the cinematic conventions of their respective eras.
Keywords
Macbeth, William Shakespeare, Roman Polanski, Justin Kurzel, Film Adaptation, Tragedy, Narrative Comparison, Cinema, Character Development, Violence, Sexuality, Modernization, Literary Analysis, Plot Deviations, Cinematic Atmosphere.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental focus of this paper?
The paper performs a comparative study of Shakespeare's "Macbeth" and its film adaptations by Roman Polanski and Justin Kurzel to understand how a classic stage play is transformed into a modern film narrative.
What are the primary themes discussed?
The work explores themes of madness, guilt, power, family, and the visual representation of tragedy, alongside technical aspects of filmmaking like pacing, sound, and visual style.
What is the main research question of the work?
The research seeks to determine how directors translate the stage play into films, whether the content is adopted accurately or falsified, and why certain changes were deliberately or accidentally implemented.
Which scientific methodology is applied?
The author uses a qualitative comparative analysis, breaking down the original play into three key scenes and contrasting them with the corresponding cinematic sequences in the 1971 and 2015 films.
What is covered in the main section of the paper?
The main section consists of a detailed scene-by-scene comparison (Act 1 Scene 1, Act 3 Scene 4, and Act 5 Scene 8) followed by a discussion on the formal differences regarding tone, violence, and character interpretation.
Which keywords define the research?
Key terms include Macbeth, film adaptation, narrative comparison, Shakespeare, cinematic interpretation, and directorial choices.
How does the 2015 version handle the Macbeths' child compared to the original?
Unlike the original play or Polanski's version, Kurzel's 2015 adaptation explicitly depicts the Macbeths grieving for a dead child, an addition aimed at making the character motivation more personal.
Why does the paper highlight the ending of the 2015 film in particular?
The paper highlights that in Kurzel’s adaptation, Macbeth is portrayed as choosing to die as a hero, effectively attempting to release himself from the curse and his insanity, which contrasts with the more literal stage direction followed by Polanski.
- Quote paper
- Lukas Jan (Author), 2016, A Comparison between Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Polanski’s film adaptation from 1971 and Kurzel’s film adaptation from 2015, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/358805
