Macbeth Movie Analysis Essay

Film Analysis - Macbeth (2006)

For my film analysis, I was fortunate that there many different adaptations of the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare. Most of them are set in the period of the play, like Roman Polanski’s 2002 version, which I also viewed and found to be disappointing at best. The only good thing was the realism of the sword fighting. Realistically clumsy in their armor, which was amusing, but other than that, dull, dull, dull. Instead, I opted to view and analyze the more modern version from 2006. The 2006 version of Macbeth was adapted by Geoffrey Wright and Victoria Hill, produced by the same team and also directed by Geoffrey Wright. Victoria Hill also happens to play the role of Lady Macbeth.
The first interesting choice that the director makes is the setting. This version of Macbeth is set in the underground drug world of modern day Melbourne, Australia. The hierarchy of a royal kingdom is represented with the
The integration of the prophecies by the director was, in my opinion, genius. Obviously, Macduff would kill Macbeth and in true form, he found him alone in a wine cellar in Macbeths home and stabbed him, again, old school, face to face, man to man, instead of with a gun. But what I was most curious about was how the director would represent the “Great Birnam Wood coming to high Dunsinaine Hill”. Seeing the mobsters with shield made of branches would not have worked and would have been tacky and campy at best. I was so impressed to see Macduff and the others come to Dunsinaine under the cover of a lumber truck from where? Yes, Brinam Wood, and they crash through the gate and the battle to take Dunsinaine and find Macbeth begins. Even though Macbeth sees the name of the truck on his security camera and even muses at it, he is still defiant and runs around reminding everyone that he cannot be killed by any man born of