After his success with Kroamskudden in Mariaparochie, Dutch comedian Herman Finkers decided to kick things up a notch. Originally a skit in one of his theatre shows, he made a full-scale animation of his (very) loose interpretation of Shakespeare's world-famous play MacBeth. As with most of his programmes of that era, Finkers teamed up with his brother Wilfried, who came up with the original set of jokes, and who can be heard as a voice actor for several characters.
'Loose interpretation' is an accurate description. Though most renditions of the play take several hours, Finkers' version manages to tell the story in just 25 minutes. Most secondary plot twists are left out, and in one instance, the animation simply skips a movement out in the heather, as it turns out to be bad weather there. Only the essentials remain, such as MacBeth (voiced by the late Jan Knollema) meeting three witches who make a fool out of him in this version, his overly ambitious wife Salmonella (voiced in falsetto by Finkers himself) urging him to help his fate a little, the murder of King Duncan, a revolt against the new king, and eventually MacBeth's unfortunate demise.
Finkers' version is a delight for language lovers. The plot gaps are filled in with typical Finkers-style word jokes, literal interpretations of imagery and metaphors, and unexpected side-steps on standard expressions (skilfully supported by John Croezen and Sieger Zuidersma's animations). Right at the beginning, for instance, MacBeth is introduced as a good-natured but strong military leader, who slaughtered, amongst others, Patrick the Right. The narrator (also Finkers) explains he was called Patrick the Right because MacBeth first killed the wrong Patrick. Meanwhile, MacBeth is seen dusting off a row of trophy heads on a wall.
But it isn't all just silly word jokes, as Finkers displays a remarkable skill in matching rhyme and metre, easily on par with the style of the original. Before he played his large theatre productions, Finkers started out as a self-dubbed 'comical poet', providing a laugh during the intermezzos of a band of friends in his youth. Apart from being a language virtuoso, he's also a skilled multi-instrumentalist. It explains why he flawlessly knows his way around metre and rhyme schemes, without losing his humorous streak. Two times, MacBeth himself is seen reciting a few tight-knit stanzas bulging with clever wordplay, witty puns, and hilarious, unexpected twists. As with all Finkersian work, these prove near-impossible to translate.
Whereas Kroamskudden in Mariaparochie was rather straightforward in its storytelling, Finkers' MacBeth contains subtle in-jokes that get noticed only on a second viewing. Croezen and Zuidersma have also upped their game, as the animations are more natural, smooth and tidy, and the backgrounds are drawn with an eye for detail. The piece is fast-paced, clever, and for the most part simply hilarious.
If Kroamskudden was a first-class production, MacBeth is an absolute masterpiece by one of the biggest names in Dutch comedy history.
