MACBETH (Chichester Festival Theatre/The Shows Must Go On)****

 

By Alan

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dalKG4ZiYg

Available until: 23^rd November

Content warnings: Blood, guts, gore, violence, gunfire

Macbeth is fiction but it is based on real people. There was a Macbeth who became King of Scotland circa 1005. Unlike in the play, he was king for over 17 years. Macbeth’s grandfather was king so Macbeth was part of the Royal Family and King Duncan was his cousin- so Macbeth was technically next in line after Duncan’s sons. (The rules of succession weren’t always followed, part of the plot of King John is based on the fact John was actually 3rd in line after his deceased brother Geoffrey’s two surviving children but the previous king, his brother Richard I, wanted John to be king after him so that’s what happened. Macbeth was at least 4^th in line and probably wasn’t Duncan’s first choice but he had a lot of support from others.)

Duncan was a terrible king and was really power crazy and caused all sorts of trouble so some people were quite glad when Macbeth killed him and seized the throne. But it wasn’t a case of Macbeth killing Duncan because he met some weird witches and got nagged into murder by his wife, it happened in the course of battle (there were lots of clans in Scotland and they didn’t like each other so they were at war for centuries). The real Banquo was on Macbeth’s side with killing Duncan and although Banquo’s son Fleance didn’t become king in real life, he was an ancestor of James VI of Scotland/James I of England who was on the throne when the play was written.

The real Macbeth actually did a good job of ruling Scotland. He made several laws including allowing daughters the same inheritance rights as sons and he didn’t go around killing anyone who was the smallest threat. Siward (who appears in the play, at least someone with his name does) had a go at challenging him as he wanted Malcolm to be king and Macbeth did kill Siward but as Siward was threatening his life I don’t think that counts as a homicidal spree like you get in the play. Macbeth was eventually killed in battle by Malcolm 3 years after that. Macbeth’s stepson Lulach became king (so that’s how in the play Lady Macbeth has been a mother but Macbeth has no children) but Malcolm arranged Lulach’s death and seized the throne for himself. 6 years later William the Conqueror invaded England (not that that’s massively relevant but maybe that puts it in context a bit).

In some ways this film is quite similar to the real Macbeth’s story. It’s obviously set close to a thousand years later, not in the present day, Macbeth still sends Lady Macbeth a letter instead of a text but based on the clothes (which I don’t know that much about) and the transport it’s probably early to mid 20^th century. And it’s not set in Scotland, I think it’s Eastern Europe somewhere but it’s Eastern Europe with Scottish place names so that’s quite weird. But I see the film (which is based on a production by Chichester Festival Theatre) as being closer to the true story of Macbeth because it really plays up the battle angle. There is a lot of stuff on the battlefield, as well as scenes in hospital with injured soldiers (the witches are REALLY creepy nurses) and there is a lot of focus on the fact they’re in the middle of a war. The characters keep their emotions at a distance and killing people is just like a necessary part of life.

It is an interesting way of staging the play because it means the play isn’t so much about Macbeth’s ambition– he is fighting for an army which has been fighting against Duncan’s army for years so Macbeth is probably almost expected to kill Duncan at some point (though it can’t be entirely based on reality because Duncan is so friendly with Macbeth- unless he’s trying to keep him sweet by giving him titles and acting like his mate). In a way although I’m not saying it’s right it makes Macbeth seem less responsible because it’s part of something bigger.

But it doesn’t make Macbeth more of a sympathetic character because Patrick Stewart makes him so horrible. He’s a really good actor and I think he could have been a brilliant Macbeth if he played him in a more conventional way. As it is his acting is still brilliant, he says his lines very well and he gives a strong sense of Macbeth’s character but this Macbeth is cold and scheming right from the start and he’s so remote. I didn’t want him to be king and I didn’t much care what happened to him when he did.

Lady Macbeth probably has less power as a character if the killing of Duncan is all part of Macbeth’s long-standing battle with Duncan. Kate Fleetwood is really good but she’s cold and creepy and although she is quite moving in her final scene it’s a bit late for me to care by then.

It felt like with all the characters that director Rupert Goold was trying to keep us all at a distance and not let us in. It’s a relevant way of doing the play and I did actually like the film but it was more like I was admiring the acting and the filming instead of getting invested in the story. The film has been really beautifully shot. They even manage to make the hospital look quite beautiful, it had a silvery sort of glow sometimes which reminded me a bit of some of the architecture on the Jubilee Line’s 1999 extension, there’s something really magnificent about it. There are also some great shots on the battlefield (some of it is really gross so maybe don’t eat while you watch Macbeth) and of Banquo’s ghost advancing on Macbeth and there’s gunfire and a scene on a train– as an action film it’s great but Shakespeare isn’t just about action, it’s more psychological and emotional and I did miss that.

None of the characters come over well. Even Lady Macduff (Suzanne Burden) is a total bitch though I actually liked her scene as it seemed a lot more real and less at a distance. I also liked the Gentlewoman (Polly Frame)’s Scottish accent even though it didn’t seem totally right with the Eastern European setting. Michael Feast is good when Macduff finds out his children have died but he didn’t really interest me apart from that. Most of the characters just pace a lot and hiss at each other. It’s very atmospheric and there’s no actual what I’d call bad acting but you don’t get to know the characters or get invested in the story.

It’s a good film but maybe it’s not really good Shakespeare.