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Macbeth
(1971) VHS
Director: Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski's adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy remains one
of the most infamous for a number of reasons: the copious amounts of bloody
gore, its expert use of location settings (filmed in North Wales), and
Lady Macbeth's nude sleepwalking scene. Despite its notoriety, though,
this does remain one of the more compelling film adaptations of the Scottish
tragedy, if one of the more pessimistic takes on the story of Macbeth and
his overreaching ambition. If you think the play is normally a bit of a
downer, you haven't seen Polanski's bleak version of it, made in reaction
to the murder of his wife, Sharon Tate, by the Manson "family." Jon Finch
(Hitchcock's Frenzy) is an forceful Macbeth, bringing out the Scot's warrior
instincts, and Francesca Annis is a memorable Lady Macbeth, but the main
thrust of the film belongs to Polanski's and noted British playwright and
critic Kenneth Tynan's take on the play: extremely violent, nihilistic,
and visceral; this is down-in-the-dirt, no-holds-barred Shakespeare, not
fussy costume drama. Pay close attention to the end, a silent coda that
puts a chilling twist on all the action that has come beforehand and foreshadows
more tragedy to come. --Mark Englehart - Amazon.com
Out of Print - Try Used
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Hamlet
- Criterion Collection (1948)
In the opening scene of Hamlet (1948), Laurence Olivier's voice-over
describes the play as "the tragedy of a man who couldn't make up his mind."
But Olivier's screen adaptation is considerably more thoughtful and complex
than this thesis would suggest. Drawing on his experience playing the prince
on stage at Elsinore in 1937, the legendary thespian provides the film
with the patina of greatness and shows how the constitution of the formerly
cheerful prince weakens increasingly under the burden of his own thoughts
and inability to accept his mother's hasty marriage to uncle Claudius (Basil
Sydney). As Ophelia, Jean Simmons captures the character's early spirit
better than her gradual disintegration. Purists may bemoan the loss of
Fortinbras, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern, but these choices allow Olivier
to focus more squarely on Hamlet's plight. The winner of four Oscars® (Best
Picture, Actor, Art Direction, and Costumes), this is a Hamlet for the
ages. The rest is silence. --Kevin Mulhall - Amazon.com |
Julius
Caesar
Starring: Marlon Brando, James Mason, See more
An examination of the relationship between political power and personal
conscience, Joseph Mankiewicz's traditional Julius Caesar (1953) is a veritable
master class for aspiring thespians. As the opportunistic Marc Antony,
Marlon Brando delivers the famous funeral speech with pure conviction,
elsewhere casting an intense physicality that recalls his work in A Streetcar
Named Desire. James Mason suggests a latent Hamlet in his turn as the honorable
Brutus, while John Gielgud is positively serpentine as the lean, hungry
Cassius. Louis Calhern invests Caesar with intelligence and edgy noir echoes,
and director Mankiewicz astutely balances the Renaissance view of Caesar
as a power-obsessed, corrupt tyrant destined for punishment with modern
suggestions that his murder may have been ill advised. The director's scrupulous
pacing is supported in no small measure by Miklós Rósza's stunning score.
At film's end, power itself is without a master, and the spirit of Caesar
has been left unrevived: and to Mankiewicz's credit, the latter is revealed
to be the true tragedy of Julius Caesar. --Kevin Mulhall - Amazon.com
Out of Print - Try Used
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