Movie Adaptations of Macbeth

 A study of film adaptations of the Play- Macbeth

“False face must hide what the false heart doth know”

The well known Scottish Play of William Shakespeare was based on the chronicles of Scotland. After more than 400 years the play is still favorite among theatre lovers and other audiences. In the history of cinema there are so many attempts to make a great cinematic masterpiece of the William Shakespeare's play Macbeth.

Here is the 10 best adaptations of Macbeth-

1. Macbeth (1947) made by A Republic Pictures

2. Throne of Blood (1957) Directed by Akira Kurosawa

3. Macbeth (1971) directed by Roman Polanski and distributed by Columbia

Pictures

4. Shakespeare Retold, E2 Macbeth (BBC)

5. Maqbool (2003) Starring late actor Irfan Khan

6.Macbeth (2006) Directed by Geoffrey Wright

7. Macbeth (2015)

8. Joji (2020)

9. The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)

10. Veeram

“Fair is foul and foul is fair”

Movies that tales the story of Scottish chronicles

Macbeth (1971)

Most of the time movie makers tell the story of Macbeth as we all know. Macbeth, Thane of Glamis whose ambitions make him king and then also brings his fall. The 1971 adoptions tell the story of Shakespeare's play but also gives wings to our imagination to fly in the world of Macbeth. It holds some of the best scenarios like the witches scene and the battle of Macbeth and Macduff.

The last beetle seems very real and dangerous. Movie present brutality and cruelty in every murders and the death of Lady Macduff and her son and also the death of Lady Macbeth.

Witches and supernatural elements

The movie starts with the scene of the three witches. They are like in the play, speaks dialogue and make promises to meet where the battle is lost and won and to meet Macbeth.

In this movie witches also appear in front of Malcolm. When they appear it presents a very supernatural environment.

 

Macbeth (2015)

The movie adaptation of 2015 does the same with its great visuals and cinematography. The world building of Macbeth is so beautiful and the battle scenes are great. The costumes and looks of the characters are also great. Michael Fassbender who plays Macbeth does look like the warrior that was described in the act 1 scene 2 of the play. He is also described as a tyrant and cruel king, in the movie he gives punishment to lady Macduff and her children and burns them.

         We can also see the emotions in the eyes of Lady Macbeth because of the scene of her son's burial that we see in the beginning and also before her death we see her son as an illusion.

Witches and supernatural elements. 

In this movie there are three witches but there is also a young girl with them that might be a witch. In the beginning they appear when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were during the burial of their son. The last prophecy happens by the dead soldier whom Macbeth sees.

 The prophecy of wood coming to Macbeth is very interestingly done in the movie. Macduff sets fire on the woods and the ashes of it come to Macbeth.

The tragedy of Macbeth (2021)

The tragedy of Macbeth (2021) is a movie shot in the made up sets and in black and white. The movie is like we see the play. We can say that movies are more like plays. Mostly in the movie characters don't express their inner self but in this movie they do because of the way it is made . Denzel Washington, who plays Macbeth in it, is a very expressive actor who is known for his good acting abilities. The way he expresses himself, it blows our mind.

Witches and supernatural elements

This movie also describes witches in different ways. The way witches come is unique. In the beginning there is one witch but also has two in the water and then they become three. The witch also appeared in a different way to the character of Ross in the middle when Malcolm runs away and then in the end when Ross goes with Banquo's son.  

The movies that took different takes on the story

Throne of blood (1957)

In the year 1957, Japanese Director Akira Kurosawa abducted the story of Macbeth in his movie The throne of blood. It was the same story but the setting was changed to 16th century japan. Washiju, a warrior and his friend Miki hear prophecy by the forest spirit and then embrace their ill fates.

The wife of Washiju, Asaji has a silent appearance but is also very active and ambitious. She represents the outer look of Japanese women of that time and the insight of Lady Macbeth.

Changes in the story

The story changes plot from Scotland to Japan but the writer also changes some things in it. Witches are replaced by the forest spirit. And the forest and the supernatural element provide the vines of horror. The ghost of Miki also has some horror touch.

The prophecy of the death of the main character is also changed. Here spirit gives prophecy that Washiju will remain undefeated, that comes true when Washiju is not given a chance to fight and gets killed by the arrows of his own men.

Macbeth (Shakespeare Retold, BBC)

This episode is the modern version of Macbeth set in a 3 star hotel in London. Joe Macbeth is a chef under Duncan who is owner of the hotel. The real hard work is done by Macbeth but the respect is earned by Duncan. 

“Respect” is a very central idea of this movie. Joe Macbeth sees his profession in a very respectful manner and gives everyone respect in the kitchen. But he kills his boss Duncan and inherits the hotel.

Changes in the story.

The witches are personified as Garbage men. And they have the weird ability to give prophecies by the knowledge they have gained by collecting garbage and eating different food.

The mental health is also described because Joe works so constantly that he barely sleeps. Maybe that's why he hallucinates and sees weird things.

The death of Joe is prophecies that he will die if the pigs fly. In the end he hears a helicopter sound on his head and dies by the hands of Macduff.

Macbeth (2006)

This Australian movie is directed by Geoffrey Wright. The movie takes place in modern times but it sticks to the poetic language and titles. The story is about Macbeth, a gangster who kills his boss Duncan and becomes the leader of the gang and later killed by Macduff. 

The changes in story

The witches are described by weird girls in school uniforms.

The best thing the movie shows is the psychological state of mind of the main characters. The grief of the death of their son leads Macbeth and his wife to Drugs and alcohol. They also face depression and hallucination. 

Indian adaptations of the Macbeth

I have explored three Indian adaptations of Macbeth. Out of which two are very excellently made.

Those movies  are- 

1. Maqbool

2. Joji

3. veeram

Maqbool (2003)

This movie is made by Vishal Bhardwaj who successfully adapted three Shakespearean tragedies Macbeth, Othello and Hamlet into his indian versions Maqbool, Omkara and Haidar.

Maqbool is a gangster who works for Jahangir Khan aka Abbaji and also is  in love with his mistress Nimmi. He wants to lead the gang one day but his ambitions is indengers by Guddu who is the son of Maqbool's friend Kaka and is soon to marry Jahangir's daughter. He kills Abbaji and becomes leader and then kills his friend Kaka. Maqbool and Nimmi live in guilt and regret and Nimmi dies of ill health after giving birth to a child. Maqbool also gets killed by Riyaz who exact revenge on his father by killing him.

Changes in the story 

 In the movie changes witches into two corrupt police officers Pandit and Purohit who make prophecies by their astrological powers. Their motto is to make a balance of power.

They say that “fire must fear the water”. They give prophecy to Maqbool that he will die if the sea enters his house. Metaphorically the coastal force enters his house and he has to run away.

Macbeth's wife is also replaced by Nimmi who is mistress of Abbaji and provokes Maqbool to kill Abbaji.

Maqbool have illusion that Kaka opens his eyes but others see only his dead body

Joji (2020)

Joji is a Malayalam movie starring Fahad Fasil. I liked this movie more because of the modern setup of the story. Joji is an ambitious person who lives with his joint family. His father is a rich farmer and landlord. Joji and his two brothers depend on his father for financial support. When his father suffers from a stroke everyone's grid comes out. Joji's sister in law encourages him to kill his father. She is also after the fortune that Joji's father holds and wants to live a good lifestyle.

 

Joji kills his father by giving him fake medicines.  Later  his big brother Jomon becomes suspicious of him so he kills him with the air gun that his nephew Popy bought online. Later he also commits suicide by the same air gun.

Changes in the story.

Joji movies have a rural background. The main character has a father that replaces Duncan. His big brother is as Malcolm. There are no characters for witches, Banquo, Macduff and lady Macbeth. The sister in law of Joji has the wickedness of witches and the ambitions of Lady Macbeth. There is no prophecy in the movie or supernatural ailments but Joji once dreams of his father when he traps a fish in his fishing rod.  

Veeram

Veeram is the combined version of Macbeth and Malayalam Folklore Vadakkan Pattukal. This story is set in 13th century kerala. It Tells the story of Chandu Chekaver who is a great Kalaripayattu warrior. He was seduced by two women Unniyarcha and Kunnunili and also led by his ambitions kills his master and becomes the Chekaver of the 18 and half Kalari. Kunnili is like Lady Macbeth encourage Chandu to kill Arumal to get revenge for her uncle's death. She is also very superstitious and does many  rituals to change fate and get what she wants. In the end she sacrifices herself  willingly or in her illusions. Chandu dies as predicted in heavy rain. 

Changes in the story

This movie is also a Malayalam folklore so it contains supernatural elements but not witches. The prophecies happen by summoning spirits into a girl's body. In the movie there is no war but competitions of Kalaripayattu. The main characters are believers of superstitions and fear the sins they commit.

(words- 1780)

workshop- thinking activity

 Workshop - Thinking Activity 

At the department of English of MK Bhavnagar University we had the workshop of thinking activity by Prof. Milan Pandya . He is a teacher, trainer and educator in the field of thinking skills. he is a specialist in critical, creative and design thinking. It was a two days seminar(13th and 14th August) for the students of the  Department of English.

in the beginning our classmate greeted prof. Milan Pandya.

Than our department Head Dr. Dilip Barad sir gave brief introduction about Milan sir.

The workshop  was for two days. On day 1 Milan sir discussed what is creative or critical thinking and have to develop it and how to apply it. On the day2 we did some activities to learn and increase our ability of creative thinking.

Day 1

 

  The workshop started on 13th august. The very first question that the professor asked was “what is creative or critical thinking?”

   When we gave that question some thought and also had some hard time to think it out, some of us tried to interpret the meaning of it. Later sir explained it to us.

The critical thinking depends on three aspects,

1. logical

2. Rational

3. Scientific

The way to think critically happens by those three points. when we have to think critically and i think in the present time is the time when we have to observe everything and check facts to understand reality and truth we have to think critically we need to be logical, rational and think scientifically.

Professor Milan Pandya gave his own definition of creative thinking and that is

    “ Thinking about thinking in order to improve thinking”

In his definition he used word thinking three types that reflect the importance of thinking.

The thinking of one person reflects his or her ideology, psychology, nature and capacity of applying logic or separating their emotions while making their opinions.

           He said that ”context is everything” and if we find that we can understand the situation or problem. To apply critical thinking Milan sir gave this key sentence,

“If something is true, what else has to be true”

To apply this sentence he also gave some examples to us.

1. The first example he gave us was a photo of an advertisement for Lux soup by Kareena Kapoor.

The question was why she is smiling in the advertisement? It was the ad of lux soap that give three rupees discount and that's why she is smiling in the photo, but if we critically think about about it we can understand that the actress comes from wealthy background and she is the type of the persons that don't even have to see the price of anything that they want to buy. So, smiling for a three rupees discount in the advertisement is not appropriate in her positions. It is only limited to her role of promoting the soup.

2. Second example was of an Indian drama series “Yeh hai Mohabbatein”

By the fist look at the picture you can not find any flow in it. It was just a normal photo of a husband(maybe typical Indian) trying to help his wife. But we have to find a flow in it and it has one. The flow was that the wife was wearing perfect makeup and had a very beautiful hairstyle that leads to great handwork to one who is injured by one hand but there she was, having those things perfectly done but not able to wear her saree. Then we can say that it does not have any reality, but just a dramatic situation of lame writing.

3rd, 4th and 5th example was about people who are in higher position or famous

Like Satish Shah, Shraddha Kapoor and a politician provides false information to the public on social media knowingly or unknowingly.  

Importance of those examples was to think thoroughly about whether it was intentional or an innocent mistake. If we think deeply  about those things we can find a critical point of view.

If someone claims that something is truth that they have to prove that what they say is truth because

          “Burden of proof lies on the person who claims.” 

We can understand this by the example of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial(the example is given by me).

I am not saying that she was wrong or Johnny was right, but if she is right about her claim then she needs to provide proof. 

Professor Milan Pandya concluded 1st day by giving a quote of Tao Te Ching 

“Your teacher might be wrong, learn to think for yourself”

Sir said that you don't have to believe everything you are taught because sometimes your teacher also can make mistakes, if you analyse things and have a critical point of view then you can come up with creative ideas and find what is true.

Day 2

        Day two was all about activities to understand what creativity is, understand where it lies and how much we can think creatively.

Our day started with whether men are rational or not. For that Milan Sir said that,

 

  “ Men have the capacity to practise rationality.”

He said that for men to be rational they need training. Men are not born with rationality, so it depends on  what he learns. Man is also an emotional animal, so if he cultivates rationality then he can be rational. He needs to be critical and creative.

Creativity lies in four steps. They are,

• Person

• Process

• Press

• product

To understand creativity sir gave us a picture that contains various symbols and items, and asked us to categories those differently.

Some of us came up with different creative categories like,

• Nature vs science

• Religion vs modernity

• Journey of inner and outward

• Things that are in cirlce

• Creative vs destructive

• Different proverbs like- ‘Pen is mightier then sword’, 'Hardwork is the key to success’,

• Different literary works like- Macbeth, Othello, The Gun Island, The Home and The World, Journey to the centre of the Earth.

The second activity was about solving problems provided by Milan sir. The two problems he gave were paradoxical, which makes us dilemma and makes us in situations very hard to solve. 

First problem was trolley problem, in which you see five people on a railway track and there is other track where is only one person, you have a gear to change the way or trolley, if you change the way five people will be saved but one person dies and if you don't change the way five people will die.

The second problem was the footbridge dilemma, in which you see five people off the bridge and train running toward them and one giant person is on the bridge. If you want to save those people you have to push the giant person and he will die.

Those questions were hard to answer because they put us in a dilemma that either way someone is going to die and that makes us uneasy. 

My learning throughout this workshop-

 We all think but not always critically or not for all the things. Sometimes we are driven by emotions or beliefs, that we sideline critical thinking. Sometimes we don't question what we are convenience to believe.

We are living in a time where we always have to be critical and observing. Not everything that we are taught, said and asked and what we see and hear is true. We have to become critical and creative in thinking in order to keep up the right path of knowledge. We can be distracted, deceived , deluded easily and if we do that we will create a chain of misinformation and miss belief because what we know or understand we pass to the others because humans are the race who like to talk and communicate they like to tell stories they like to gossip. So, we have to become critical and creative thinkers.

thank you for visiting.