This version of the famous play isn’t that highly regarded – actually, no film version of this play is – even among Welles fans, but I really enjoyed it. Maybe because of all the films Welles made it’s the closest to a horror film, a genre I wish he’d worked in. It’s a dream like expressionistic world – utterly non naturalistic – full of bold images, great action, interesting camera angles.
I don’t classify MacBeth as a proper tragedy since he’s such a greedy idiot – at bottom, he’s just another ruthless little general, without Richard III’s sense of humour but with an extra dollop of guilt. To be fair, maybe that’s the way Welles plays him – guilt-ridden from the outset. (Actors who play MacBeth never quite get him right – they tend to go for the brooding action hero, rather than the neurotic jittery person, which I think you need to do to make it a tragedy.) At least Welles looks handsome and dashing in the role – he soon moved to Europe and porked up permanently.
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