Macbeth

This could be the most ridiculous taping of any Shakespeare tradition. The sets are stolen from the stage of some high school production and the camera work is awful. Macbeth chatters more than he talks, his mouth visible only through a blanket of beard which covers his entire face.

The witches, the old hags, are scarier than ever seen before. They seem almost wooden and their make-up is stage worthy though not suited for film. More or less, this is good for the venue in which I saw it...my high school English class. I likely fell asleep through some of it, as I couldn't understand half of it.

Terribly long and yet short all at once.

Flush this one.

I just had to leave this review to correct the record, lest you be misled by the one other review.

This is the best Macbeth film because it is Shakespeare's Macbeth, true to his text and plot with no major cuts, true to his setting, and free from weird modernist alterations. It has no major flaws. It is not a big budget film, but that shouldn't matter to a true Shakespeare fan. It doesn't look cheap at all, but it is also not a special effects blockbuster. It is a good film of a PLAY. The feast here is for the mind. The costumes and sets are just as good as you will find in comparable British television productions.

The performances of Michael Jayston as Macbeth and Barbara Leigh Hunt as Lady Macbeth are outstanding among the other fantastic performances.

We are truly lucky to have this good Macbeth when so many others distort the play. Unfortunately, it has only been released on video, not yet on DVD or Blu Ray, which is a great shame.