Where Adaptations Often Fail, “The Tragedy of Macbeth” Measures Up

Stylistic changes in “The Tragedy of Macbeth” accentuate the best from Shakespeare’s original work.

While adapting any book is not such an easy feat, adaptation becomes much more difficult when that work is Shakespearean. Alternatively referred to as the “The Scottish Play,” “Macbeth” is one of Shakespeare’s most famous pieces of work.

The entire play is structured within five acts alongside poetic Shakespearean language. The events begin after Macbeth wins a treacherous battle against the allied forces of Norway and Ireland. He soon receives a prophecy from Three Witches that he will become the King of Scotland. As a result of the prophecy, Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, set out on a destructive plan to kill the king and take over the crown.

With the newest Macbeth film adaptation hitting theaters, “The Tragedy of Macbeth” suggests a new revision to the old fated tale.

The film is directed and written solely by Joel Coen. This marks a first for Joel Coen, as he is mostly known for directing and writing his features alongside his brother Ethan Coen.

Presented in a dark, sinister world, the film lacks the comedic undertones of a usual Coen film.

Beginning on the account of the toiling Three Witches (played by Kathryn Hunter), “The Tragedy of Macbeth” plays word-for-word the Witches’ oracle. However, instead of framing the scene on a thunderous night as Shakespeare describes, the film opens with a bold black font titled, “When” with the Three Witches’ looming voices in the background. The film’s opening presence is both ominous and abstract, which resembles the eerie presence of the witches while adding allure to their presence through editing.

The film takes up another alternative interpretation with the witches personified as crows. As crows, they often circle ominous skies. However, in some scenes, they coalesce into a woman contortionist masked by a black cloak which resembles the wings of a crow.

Their crow-like embodiment diverts from the original interpretation of the witches. In the play, the hideous figure of the witches derives from their manly and womanly features. Instead, the film’s presentation of their animalistic traits heightens the strangeness of their presence while the association of witches to crows insinuates their metaphor for death.

Another symbol featured heavily in this film is the crown. While the crown references Macbeth’s yearn for royalty, its presence is much more pronounced in this film through framing. In many of the portraiture shots, enough head space is left to flaunt the crowns adorned by Lady Macbeth and Macbeth.

Later, the crown is whipped off of Macbeth’s head. Through close framing of the crown, the crown is then deposited on the ground where it then glides into the hands of its next successor.

Such a smooth transition of the crown would be lost in the elaborate set-up of a new scene in a theatrical production, but the close framing makes any transitioning motif stand out. As a result, the pronounced image of the crown carries a dangerous association for its owners much like the presence of the ring in “The Lord of The Rings.”

The film lends itself freedom to re-establish the cinematic landscape of “Macbeth” with all scenes shot in a stark white and black finish. Scenery and backdrops are often clean and flat, which allows for focus on characters and their behaviors.

Another addition to the filmmaking techniques is the 4:3 aspect ratio. The square-like ratio is unusual for most modern films (many directors prefer wide aspect ratios.) However, the squared ratio provides perfect framing of singular characters for the film —they almost resemble portraiture paintings. As a result, the vivid emotions displayed and the words spoken by characters are strengthened.

Not only does the cinematic adaptation take advantage of the cinematography, but the film’s editing techniques accentuate the continuity. For instance, in one scene, the camera is framed overhead a full moon, which aptly match-cuts to an overhead shadow of a circular cut-out inside the castle.

While the film maintains the similar structure and dialogue of “Macbeth,” there is a haunting aspect to how characters are simply killed on the screen. For instance, the play originally depicts Lady Macduff’s son (played by Ethan Hutchinson) pleading for her to run away as he dies.

The adaptation is much more sinister. Without hesitation, the son is thrown into a fire pit, denying him any opportunity of a final message or words to his mother. Such minor changes further contextualize Lady Macbeth and Macbeth as ruthless characters.

Overall, the film offers a fantastic ode to the original work. It takes the best of “Macbeth” and chooses dynamic cinematic choices to further accentuate the play. An adaptation should never seek to replace the original, but it should maintain the excellence that either meets or even surpasses the original work.