Macbeth

Orson Welles Macbeth is a dark macabre affair, Shakespeare as gothic horror. The angles used and framing of scenes is highly dramatic. This is the best filmed Macbeth and one of the best Shakespeare film adaptions ever made. A film rich in atmosphere and truly terrifying.

I saw this after seeing the Tragedy of Macbeth from 2021 and the differences were stark. This was much more brooding and dark, but it still packed a cave goblin like punch at times. I felt there was more of a focus on Scotland and Macbeth. Perhaps it was Welles' ego? Regardless, it had moments, like Lady Macbeth and the outrageous viking like costumes / crowns. It was on youtube.

Weird crown, but okay. With any adaptation of a major literary work, the question inevitably becomes one of faithfulness vs. originality; virtually no subject matter receives more scrutiny that Shakespeare, with its long tradition of theatrical and cinematic versions alike and its retinue of purists who would scream in agony if minor grammatical alterations were made (which is funny given the major disparities in many plays published in early individual quartos vs. the First Folio). Into this dangerous territory walked Orson Welles, with a minor budget, recycled sets, off-the-rack costumes, and a shooting schedule of barely more than three weeks. What he came up with was subjected to forced alterations and was still lambasted, largely due to comparison to the Olivier Hamlet that was circulating at the same time. But its reputation has grown with time, with recognition given to the cinematography, Welles' maddened performance, and even to the changes made to the narrative to accomodate the medium. While it doesn't quite approach the style of Welles' adaptation of Othello, nor the power of his Chimes at Midnight, Macbeth is still quite impressive particularly given its practical production limitations. Half-convinced that the production team behind The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021) reviewed this Welles adaptation and had it in mind when casting Harry Melling as Macduff; Dan O'Herlihy, in the same role, bears striking similarities in his facial features. (3.5/5)

Without being too daring but being very personal, Welles' 'Macbeth' is a highly honourable adaptation of the play made by an expert. Its rustic, frightening, supernatural atmosphere beautifully fits the play, and Welles interprets a diabolical Macbeth. Furthermore, the budget constraints of the film do not only seem to make it suffer, they also seem to participate to its rough, wild style.

http://filmreviewsnsuch.blogspot.com/2016/08/welles-bard-trilogy-macbeth-othello.html

Near theatre-like, Wells adaption of Macbeth, presents in with vision and some rather near-perfect shots of the three witches, cursing thy formulas of the future. Like the serpents sting, death betrays the lust of kings.

well crafted version of this shakespeare tale

I saw this film many years ago as a teen, and loved it then, but saw it again for the first time in nearly 50 years, and my opinion hasn't changed. Since then, I've seen our own National Theater do it and seen Eric Porter do it on PBS, but this is till my favorite version. When Orson Welles was on top of his game as an actor and a director, no one could beat him. Every angle of every shot is artistic perfection and the black and white cinematography is mind blowing. Shakespeare on film just doesn't get any better than this! And the Christopher Welles playing MacDuff's son is Orson Welles oldest daughter. Yes, that's right--they named their daughter Christopher, her only film appearance ever.

Very good adaptation. The only problem is that, when you previously know the story, it is not the same. But that is not a fault from the movie, but from the spectator.

I was too distracted by the awful "scottish" accents to notice much else