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The dark side of ambition runs amok in Roman Polanski's 1971 Macbeth, a grim and blood-soaked adaptation of Shakespeare's violent tragedy. It's a simple story: Spurred on by witches' prophecies and by his young wife (Francesca Annis), Macbeth (Jon Finch) gains the Scottish throne through ruthless butchery and assassinations, only to lose it in a similar fashion. Polanski's approach is equally simple and straightforward. Macbeth’s locations and sets realistically evoke a dark, murky medieval Scotland, and the cast’s low-key performances are clean and unembellished. This is muscular, cinematic Shakespeare in which significant sections of soliloquies are dispatched in voice-over, a device that works surprisingly well. Many have attributed the film’s abundant onscreen violence to the fact that Macbeth was Polanski’s first film after the grisly murder of his wife, Sharon Tate, by the Manson family; and while the mayhem is brutal and plentiful, it's never gratuitous. In fact, there are no gimmicks here: Even Lady Macbeth's nudity during her most famous monologue suits the voyeurism of the scene perfectly. In the end, despite the film's somewhat racy reputation (resulting in large part from the fact that it was financed by Hugh Hefner's Playboy Productions), this Macbeth smacks of true classicism. It is a stark and compelling gem. Gregory Baird

All Movie Guide

Perhaps William Shakespeare meant to have Lady Macbeth perform her sleepwalking scene in the nude -- it was this X-rated scene and the film's much-publicized spurts of violence, rather than the brilliant performances of Jon Finch as Macbeth and Francesca Annis as his Lady, that lured crowds to Roman Polanski's 1972 adaptation of Macbeth. Only a few critics glommed onto the most impressive aspect of Polanski's version: as Macbeth and his wife sink deeper and deeper into the morass of their murderous ambitions, they age and wither before our eyes (Shakespeare's play does cover several years, but this is usually forgotten or ignored by many actors and directors). Macbeth was financed and released by Playboy, which naturally necessitated a fold-out spread on "the witches of Cawdor." The original Shakespearean text was adapted for the screen by Polanski and Kenneth Tynan. Despite an excellent first week, Macbeth ended up in the red, compelling Hugh Hefner to think twice about future motion-picture projects. Hal Erickson

Product Details

• UPC: 043396077805
• Source: SONY PICTURES
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Cinemascope (2.35:1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Español, Portugais
• Time: 2:20:00
• Sales Rank: 8,282

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