Shakespeare and Cinema

SHAKESPEARE AND CINEMA

Student: Zilinszki Anna-Krisztina 1styear, SGPC Tg.-Mureş 2010 Beginning from the Lady Macbeth’s speech analyse, I decided to write my research paper about Shakespeare and Cinema. When it is said that an author’s works have a universal appeal, what is meant is that his works are capable of striking a chord with readers all over the world, cutting across all kinds of boundaries by which people segregate themselves. In other words, the story being told and the themes being explored in those works find relevance in all lands and ages. There are many authors who can be said to have produced such works, but the name that tops the list is undoubtedly that of William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon. That he is acknowledged to be the world’s preeminent dramatist not just in England but across the globe, and that his plays continue to be studied, performed and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts, bears testimony to the fact that while he wrote about specific people, places and eras, his treatment of them almost negates that specificity and endows them with the universality that made Ben Jonson say that Shakespeare is “not of an age, but for all time.” We could easily add that he was not of any country either, but of all lands. The universal appeal of Shakespeare’s plays can be understood upon studying some of the film adaptations of his works. In the play and film versions of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, women are given a fairly large amount of agency or power. Interestingly enough, the women control not only their own destiny, but also that of our hero himself, Macbeth. Femininity, particularly that of the maternal, is a very widely used them in the play and films. The prominent female figures are the witches and Lady Macbeth. The three witches in the tragedy are introduced right at the beginning of the play and the brief opening scenes give an immediate impression of mystery, horror and uncertainty. The witches create an atmosphere of evil and disorder. Everything that the witches do implies otherworldly power and a sense of inescapable and enchanting evil. However Banquo does not seem to be drawn into this spell. Banquo says in act 1 scene 3 line 124: "The instruments of darkness tell us truths, Win us with honest trifles, to betray 's in deepest consequence." Banquo 's idea of the witches is obviously one of mistrust and misgiving. He calls them instruments of darkness and the devil. He sees beyond the witches and can see that they are evil, whereas Macbeth is taken in by the witches. Their feminine spell has ensnared him. It is Macbeth 's interest in the sisters that motivates him to listen to and speak with them. Had Macbeth followed his friend 's advice and left the witches before they spoke, the tragedy may have never occurred. Later on in the play after he has let their prophecy determine his actions, he again seeks them out and asks them to speak into his life or control his future and destiny. The adaptations of Macbeth that I seek to discuss are Roman Polanski’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood and Vishal Bhardwaj’s Maqbool, which transport Shakespeare’s “Scottish tragedy” to feudal Japan and Mumbay underworld respectively. The Roman Polanski version of the film somewhat depicts this feminine power; however he chooses to not make it as apparent as Shakespeare or Kurosawa. The very beginning of the film features the witches, showing their importance and significance. As they bury their foreshadowing treasure, the old blind witch pours blood on the sand as the conclusion of whatever black ceremony they had just performed. This blood not only represents the death and destruction that is about to occur, but also the menstrual blood of a woman. The blood is used to as if to seal the spell, to give it the power to work. They also add blood as the final ingredient to the potion they mix for Macbeth to drink. However the blood is not cooked in with the potion, but added raw to the cup right before he drinks so as not to lose any of its potency or power. The most powerful of the witches is the blind woman. Although she cannot see, she still seems to be all knowing and all-powerful. She is drawing her power from some other source, a feminine source that Macbeth could never understand. The young blond witch represents the more sexual side of women. She is fairly attractive and sexually explicit in her interactions with Macbeth. As he follows her into their cave, she pulls up her skirt and flashes him, almost as if to entice him into the cave where they are all awaiting his presence in the nude. This nudity is meant not only to frighten Macbeth, but to enchant him as well and cause him to obey them in taking part in their ceremony. This young witch also has an eerie similarity to Lady Macbeth. She is young, blond, and thin, just as Lady Macbeth is. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth seem to have a very loving relationship in the film. Both are young and beautiful and seem very happy and vibrant. Lady Macbeth was depicted this way to seem more enticing and seductive. The scene where she actually convinces Macbeth to kill Duncan occurs on a bed, the place of procreation. She looks beautiful, with her hair flowing and framing her face. She presents her plot in a very seductive manner, touching him and smirking while whispering in his ear. Although he at first resists, he eventually gives into her power when he watches her dance with the King who seems to be under her power as well. However the roles do switch later on in the film once he has killed Duncan, Banquo, and Lady Macduff. The death of Lady Macduff is what seems to make this change in Lady Macbeth. It 's almost as if her dream was destroyed right along with Lady Macduff. She has realized that the feminine can no longer control Macbeth, he has once again claimed his own power and used it to kill this innocent woman and her children. She appears naked as she is sleepwalking to show that she is again vulnerable and without agency. She will forever have bloodstained hands. Throne of Blood replaces the Scotsmen with Samurai warriors and Japanese barons. The plot is compressed by excising the details and leaving out the dramatic monologues. Also, much of the action takes place off-screen and is left for us to assume: for example, the murder of Miki, who is the equivalent of Banquo here, is implied simply by showing his riderless horse. The character of Macduff is eliminated, and hence, Washizu, Kurosawa’s Macbeth, is killed by a group of rebellious archers. The Gothic touch that characterizes the play gives way to Japanese ‘noh’ theatre conventions: minimalist sets, and the facial expressions of the actors mirroring the noh character masks which come closest to his or her respective role. Perhaps the most important change is in the corruption of the Duncan character. Washizu murders his Lord, who had himself killed his Lord. This emphasizes the cycle of doom Washizu is caught up in, thereby shifting the focus to the macrocosm of the corrupt society rather than the microcosm of the flawed individual. In this sense, Washizu is more helpless than Macbeth: he is just a part of the pervasive rot that forms the core of a feudal nation, and his story is not that of a noble man gone astray, but that of a man trapped in, and destroyed by his pernicious social environment. Lady Macbeth is treated quite differently in Kurosawa 's Throne of Blood. She is very cold and harsh, almost seemingly unreal. She is constantly framed in light while the rest of the scene is dark, showing her significance. She is dressed in white, which shows mock innocence. Her face is very pale and she seemingly moves without moving; rather she glides or floats. She is very ghostlike and has an ominous demeanor. One almost expects horns to sprout from the darkened lines on her forehead. This surreal appearance is most effective in showing her power. Several times throughout the film it seems as if she is no more that Washizu 's ambition personified, little more than an evil thought he entertains. She never makes eye contact with Washizu but merely sits calmly and speaks her poison. You must wonder if she is even really there, or if it is just a dark aspect of Washizu speaking. She is always very still and quiet, very self-confident and very much in control. This in itself entices Washizu who seems very unsure and uptight. When Asaji does move, it is also very controlled and as smooth as the silk she wears. Even her clothing becomes terrifying. When she moves, an incredibly uncanny sound is made. The sound is reminiscent of a shrieking ghost, or possibly the sharpening of a blade. The sound is quiet yet formidable, just like Asaji herself. She seems to be an extension of the demon spirit he meets in the forest, only with a darker soul. She uses a much deeper type of manipulation than the Polanski Lady Macbeth. She uses Macbeth 's shortcomings against him by convincing him that his fears are a reality. Polanski 's Lady Macbeth genuinely seems to be trying to help her husband, while Kurosawa 's seems to be trying to damn him. She even lies about being pregnant to try to sway his mind. She seems more ambitious than her husband and will sacrifice not only herself, but him as well for her pleasures. However she is convinced of most of the things she says. When Washizu says that Miki 's children will rule and no one can change that, she responds by saying that she will change it. Even though all the other prophesies had proved true, she still feels that she has the power to change the future. Yet she falls to the same fate as both Shakespeare 's and Polanski 's Lady Macbeth. The forest spirit also greatly controls Washizu in this film. She is incredibly eerie, even creepy. She is introduced with an evil laughter resounding in the forest as she mocks their confusion. She then turns quite serious and sings a very gloomy song about the downfalls of man and pride. She has a deep voice and almost even resembles a man, yet she is most definitely a woman and her white face mirrors that of Asaji. She is sowing, perhaps holding their lives in her hands as a strand of silk being woven- much as the fates, and lures them with her song as the sirens of Greek mythology. The same light that surrounds Asaji is present around the spirit as well. She is the keeper of the wood, the very wood that predicts Washizu 's downfall. She holds his destiny just as the witches, yet she foreshadows the tragedy in her song and it seems she almost tries to protect him from himself. Nevertheless she becomes a vision of terror once Washizu has chosen his path and begun the killing. She is very in touch with nature, even controls it. She causes a terrible and frightening storm when Washizu seeks her out, and though her words seem comforting, her demeanor is far from it which implies deception. She is always on a different plane from the men, always raised above them. This shows her power and ability to control. She speaks much into his life, not only by the prophecy but also by the song. She knows him better than he knows himself and can thus control him. Similarly stark changes are made in Maqbool, where the major characters are all gangsters, and Macbeth, the thane of Glamis, is changed into Maqbool, in charge of affairs pertaining to Bollywood. Nimmi, the counterpart of Lady Macbeth, is not Maqbool’s wife, but the mistress of Abbaji, the Duncan figure. The Three Witches are supplanted by a pair of corrupt policemen. And despite being based on a Shakespearean tragedy, the film is an accurate depiction of the nexus between the underworld, police and politics prevalent in the Indian society. How much of Shakespeare, then, is retained in these films? The answer is that all of the basic plot and themes of Shakespeare’s play are present: both films tell the stories of an ambitious man who, goaded on by an equally ambitious woman, kills his superior and lives to face the dire consequences. The betrayal, the paranoia, the madness and the scheming of Macbeth are there in both the films. Lady Washizu’s cunning manipulation of her husband, and Nimmi’s provocation of Maqbool are everything the Bard himself could have wanted to see in a portrayal of Lady Macbeth. Kurosawa solves the problem of being unable to use Shakespeare’s poetry by using stylized images, and it is this visual poetry that is a more apt replacement of Shakespeare’s words rather than any kind of literal translation. Many images Kurosawa chooses are suggested by the text: for example, Lady Macbeth says, “I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry” after Duncan’s murder, and in the film, an owl indeed hoots in the background as Washizu and his wife plot their Lord’s assassination. Similarly, Maqbool utilizes images from the text, by showing Maqbool and Nimmi growing hysterical on seeing imaginary drops of blood, and the ghost of Abbaji appearing before them. Therefore, the witches and Lady Macbeth were used by Shakespeare, Polanski, and Kurosawa to control Macbeth. The Polanski women were seductive while the Kurosawa women were terrifying, but both definitely controlled the actions of Macbeth. Maternal power was given to all versions of Lady Macbeth in her power over Macbeth, yet it was also denied in her barrenness. Her power was also eventually taken away by her insanity, showing that their deed took away all power either could have over their lives. Both were equally convincing due to Shakespeare 's genius in leaving so much to interpretation. Although Shakespeare did leave much to the imagination, it is apparent that he gave the women in Macbeth the ability and power to control his destiny. Macbeth can be seen in many different ways at the end. As Shakespeare intended, it is considered a tragedy. In other ways however, it is a story of hope and lessons learned. Macbeth becomes too caught up in his power and will, and eventually becomes a victim of himself. Occurring simultaneously, Lady Macbeth undergoes a transformation as well. Early on, she is a bright, enthusiastic leader. Nevertheless, by the end of the story she has lost all power. She is haunted at night by terrible thoughts and dreams, and is forever scarred by bloody guilt. The balance of biles and humors, the Wyrd sisters and destiny, and Macbeth’s psychological transformation are all defining factors of the story in various ways. Macbeth represents the archetype of the lovable leader who got too caught up and lost sight of what was realistic, becoming a symbol of hate to his people. While just the opposite, Macduff displays the hero archetype. From philosophical symbols, such as Wyrd, and psychological evidence pertaining to the biles and the psyche, there is no doubt Shakespeare’s work is much more than a simple tragedy, but rather a journey involving endless amounts of triumph, defeat, glory, and misfortune.
They call it the “Lady Macbeth Affect,” where someone tries to wash away through physical washing a morally reprehensible sin they have committed. This “syndrome” gets its name from the infamous scene in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Act V, Scene I, where Lady Macbeth, in an insane frenzy, is washing her hands over and over and over again, groaning in pain, “Out, you stain, out with you,” because she just can’t get rid of the bloodguilt that was on her conscience for the many murders that were committed. She kept seeing blood on her hands, albeit imagined, and concluded that all the water in the world could not wash the blood off her hands. In the end, Lady Macbeth realized that water and soap, general hygienic cleanliness, her will, her drive to forget, even attempted ritual purity cannot cleanse the conscience of its guilt. Thus, behavior that mirrors that of Lady Macbeth is called the “Lady Macbeth Affect,” which, if it is advanced enough, is even considered a severe psychological disorder.

Bibliography: Primary Source:
Shakespeare,William,Macbeth, http://www.onlineliterature.com/shakespeare/macbeth/ Secondary Sources:
Wells, Stanley, Shakespeare prntru Eternitate, Ed. Lider, 2008
Wells Stanley, An Oxford Anthology of Shakespeare, Ed. Clarendon, Oxford, 1987
Wells Stanley “Shakespeare in Leigh Hunt’s Dramatic criticism”, Essays and Studies, 1980 Movies:
Akira Kurosawa: Throne of Blood – 1957
Roman Polianski: The Tragedy of Macbeth – 1971
Vishal Bhardwaj: Maqbool – 2004

Bibliography: Primary Source: Shakespeare,William,Macbeth, http://www.onlineliterature.com/shakespeare/macbeth/ Secondary Sources: Wells, Stanley, Shakespeare prntru Eternitate, Ed. Lider, 2008 Wells Stanley, An Oxford Anthology of Shakespeare, Ed. Clarendon, Oxford, 1987 Wells Stanley “Shakespeare in Leigh Hunt’s Dramatic criticism”, Essays and Studies, 1980 Movies: Akira Kurosawa: Throne of Blood – 1957 Roman Polianski: The Tragedy of Macbeth – 1971 Vishal Bhardwaj: Maqbool – 2004