Macbeth (1971)

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Movie
German title Macbeth
Original title The Tragedy of Macbeth
Country of production United States , United Kingdom
original language English
Publishing year 1971
length 140 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Roman Polanski
script Roman Polanski
production Andrew Braunsberg
music The Third Ear Band
camera Gilbert Taylor
cut Alastair McIntyre
occupation
synchronization

Macbeth is an American - British drama from 1971 . Directed by Roman Polański , who also wrote the screenplay based on the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare from 1606.

action

The plot of the film essentially follows the template Shakespeare. The final scene of the film is an addition from the director.

After winning a battle against Norwegian troops, the victorious Scottish generals Macbeth and Banquo are on their way home. On the way they meet three witches, who prophesy Macbeth that they will soon become Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland. Banquo, on the other hand, is prophesied that his sons would inherit the throne of Scotland.

Both are not very convinced of these prophecies until the king's riders arrive at the camp and actually give Macbeth the title of Thane of Cawdor in gratitude for the victory in the battle.

When Macbeth tells his wife about the prophecy, she instigates him to murder the reigning King Duncan while visiting Macbeth's castle. Macbeth stabs the king in his bed, his wife smears blood on the hands and daggers of his guards, who have previously been stunned with poison, to draw suspicion on them.

When the attack is discovered the next morning, Macbeth and his wife feign dismay and innocence. Duncan's two sons flee to England and Ireland for fear of being murdered too. Dominion over Scotland goes to Macbeth, Duncan's cousin, who is crowned king and moves into the royal fortress.

Fearing that Banquo's descendants could really overthrow the rule of his family, as predicted, Macbeth has Banquo murdered on a horse ride, but Banquo's son manages to escape.

Macbeth and his wife are both increasingly plagued by nightmarish visions in which they are confronted with the murders they have committed. Macbeth goes to see the witches again, who give him a magic potion that gives him dream visions. It tells him that only "a man whom no woman bore" can kill him and that he will be invincible until the Birnam Forest goes to Dunsinane.

Macbeth is becoming more and more of a tyrant. When England's army finally prepares for war against Scotland with Duncan's son Malcolm, some Scottish aristocrats take their side, including Macduff, whose wife and children Macbeth then cruelly killed. Macduff swears bloody revenge on him.

When England's superior army finally reached Macbeth's fortress, camouflaging its advance through cut trees from the Birnam Forest, his entire court fled the castle. His wife, having gone mad, falls to her death. Macbeth remains alone in the castle, firmly convinced that no one born to a woman could kill him. When Macduff finally reveals to him that he was not born, but cut from the womb , a decisive duel breaks out between the two. Macduff beheads Macbeth and his head is impaled on a lance as a sign of victory.

Duncan's son Malcolm takes power in Scotland. The last scene shows Malcolm's brother Donalbain entering the place where the witches hang out. So it seems that the calamities from misinterpreted prophecies will continue.

backgrounds

The film was shot at Shepperton Studios and in various locations in England and Wales from November 1970 to April 1971. After the world premiere on October 13, 1971 in the United States, it was shown in May 1972 at the Cannes International Film Festival .

synchronization

The German synchronization was commissioned by the Berliner Synchron , after a dialogue book and the dialogue director of Ottokar Runze .

role actor Voice actor
Macbeth Jon Finch Norbert Langer
Lady Macbeth Francesca Annis Uta Hallant
Macduff Terence Bayler Michael Chevalier
Horse John Stride Joachim Kerzel
King Duncan Nicholas Selby Christian Rode
Malcolm Stephan Chase Uwe Paulsen
Donalbain Paul Shelley Christian Brückner
Angus Bernard Archard Heinz Theo branding

Reviews

The lexicon of international films wrote that the "outwardly verbatim and work-oriented film adaptation" of the play missed "the inner drama by over-emphasizing the spectacular effects" , "bloodthirstiness and atrocities" . The film is "due to the wrong casting of the main roles, not captivating" . The “exquisitely beautiful and shockingly repulsive images in rich colors” would “only nourish the eyes” , but the intellect would remain “untouched” .

Roger Ebert , on the other hand, gave the film the highest rating of 4 stars and wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times that Polański had tried to come to terms with the murder of his wife with the play, and thus created a very independent, grim work that bitterly the story. I tell ironically from the point of view of that fool who became famous through Shakespeare's play: “We have heard him hundreds of times, MacBeth's desperate cry about life: 'It's a fairy tale that a fool tells, full of sound and bombast, but without Sense.' But who has ever meant it as seriously as Roman Polanski, who tells his bloody masterpiece exactly from the height of exactly this story, that of a fool? ” As a result, Ebert continues, on the one hand every possibility of identification with one of the characters is blocked and Shakespeare's play hardly recognizable in terms of content. In part, it also appears to be populated by a gang of Hell's Angels who resemble Charles Manson in that they are anti-intellectual and thoughtless, and driven by a deeply nefarious source of violence and lust. On the other hand, will "Polanski's 'Macbeth' by course, much more interesting than if he were too ordinary, respectable and taken on tiptoe to Shakespeare lurking." The film is deeply original and created "by a bona fide artist and by no means an 'interpretation'."

Awards

The film received the National Board of Review Award for Best Picture in 1972 . He won the BAFTA Award for costumes in 1973 , while The Third Ear Band was nominated for the 1973 Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Filming locations for The Tragedy of Macbeth , accessed November 12, 2008
  2. Box office / business for The Tragedy of Macbeth , accessed November 12, 2008
  3. Release dates for The Tragedy of Macbeth , accessed November 12, 2008
  4. Macbeth in the German synchronous index , accessed on August 21, 2019.
  5. ^ Macbeth in the Lexicon of International FilmsTemplate: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used , accessed on November 12, 2008
  6. ^ Film review by Roger Ebert , accessed October 4, 2011