Shakespeare’s play Macbeth has been filmed dozens of times by great directors from all over the world. The film analyzed here was released in Britain in 2010 and directed by Rupert Goold. In fact, the British gave the world the most significant number of Macbeth ’s adaptations. This version of Macbeth is not considered to be the most viewed and discussed one. However, it has a lot of great qualities to be in the range of the best movies based on Shakespeare’s plays.
The major attractive part about this film is the actor that plays Macbeth’s role in the movie. It is Patrick Stewart, the well-known actor for his role in the X-Men film series. Stewart has performed a tremendous work to feel the depth of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. In the gestures, the way of speaking, and delivery, one can feel the two-sided nature of this Scottish general. While Stewart demonstrates Macbeth’s power and force, there is also a sense of vulnerability and uneasiness in character. As for the other actors, I was not familiar with them before watching the movie. The actor whose style and play I liked is Kate Fleetwood as Lady Mcbeth. She looks really evil and frightening because of her icy manner.
The design of the costumes and locations is really modern, which makes this adaptation to be highly changed from the original. While Shakespeare’s play happened in the 11th century in Scotland, the movie’s design is more similar to the events of the 20th century. It is unusual to see such a kind of author’s “reading” of the play, which everyone knows from school days. It seems that Goold wanted to analyse the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century through the prism of the 11th-century play. The most remarkable scene is when the man, whose face was not shown, watched the military parade of troops similar to Soviet or Nazi marches. After that, the movie shows a large hall with a portrait of Macbeth, decorated in the style of communist leaders (Stalin or Mao Zedong).
Corresponding to the era of the first half of the 20th century, the costumes in the film Macbeth make sense. As for me, almost all the costumes resemble the NKVD officers’ clothes and the top leadership’s uniforms during the Great Terror of the 1930s. For example, in the first part of the film, Macbeth’s uniform and Stewart’s moustache are extremely similar to what Joseph Stalin looked like. Another memorable costume is the clothes of three witches, who were depicted in the film as hospital nurses. Their pale faces and identical hospital uniforms create a horror aesthetic, so their appearance will bring more anxiety as the film evolves.
Finally, the way the sound and light are used may interest many of Macbeth ’s viewers. The movie’s soundtrack is constructed in a way to increase the intensity and unsettling feeling through the play’s plot. This music couples with the sudden and frightening noises that can appear at any film stage. Different screams, sudden distortions, and just loud sounds keep the horror aesthetic on a high level. Concerning the effect of lights, there is no single scene where there will be no black-colour dominance. Another peculiarity is that the director tries to show the ambiguity of the characters by using white-black costumes. It creates the colour dichotomy, which seems to have a hidden meaning.
To sum up, the 2010 version of Macbeth demonstrates the astounding mix of medieval Scottish history and 20th-century nefarious events. Rupert Goold managed to “refresh” the classical play and made viewers reflect on the actuality of the story in Macbeth . At the same time, it seems that Gould has not managed to move away from the central figure of Patrick Stewart. Other actors, except Kate Fleetwood, were in the shade of the great actor.