“SEE THE GREAT DOOM’S IMAGE!”: CINEMATIC POETRY IN TWO FILM ADAPTATIONS OF SHAKESPEARE’S MACBETH
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Dată
2020Autor
Hlivnoi, Ecaterina
Abstract
Along with Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s plays
that captivated the imagination of the most creative filmmakers all over the world,
presenting almost endless alternatives for the exploration of the cinematic potential
of its visceral poetry. To investigate the fascinating metamorphosis of the
essentially theatrical, verbal, poetic substance of the play into the visual and
acoustic poetry of cinema, this paper proposes to analyse two of the most successful
big-screen adaptations of Macbeth, Roman Polanski’s controversial 1971 Macbeth
and Justin Kurzel’s unsettling 2015 Macbeth. The visual and sound strategies of the
respective directors and their crew are thoroughly explored by investigating the
essential elements of their cinematic language: mise-en-scène, acting,
cinematography and editing, sound design and music. Both Polanski’s and Kurzel’s
films mould Shakespeare’s concentrated poetic language into authentic, skilfully
designed works of art with a life of their own, re-shaping and re-contextualising the
philosophical and psychological depths of the play against the larger backdrop of
contemporary politics and mental health issues.