Comparing Macbeth Play And Film

A performance of Macbeth by director Philip Casson starring Sir Ian McKellen as Macbeth and Dame Judi Dench as Lady Macbeth is a low budget tv movie adaption of the play “Macbeth” by William shakespeare. The movie and the play tells the story of Macbeth, a scottish military man who receives a revelation from three menacing witches that he will someday become the king of scotland. This information gives him a thirst for power and the the movie and the play show what he is willing to do to get said power. There are many strong and powerful scenes in this movie but there was one that really gets your attention. The scene where Lady Macbeth played by Dame Judi Dench is sleepwalking has to be one of the best scenes put on any type of screen. She

The whole scene is filmed with minimal lighting and little to no props. A single candle is used to show the expressions on Judi Dench 's face which is brilliant. It really pulls you into her character. The lack of props and lighting actually helps excell Judi Dench 's performance. It makes the audience focus on nothing more than her. It was a risk to take but a risk well worth it. The costumes weren 't that impressive but it can be understood for such a low budget film. The dialogue in the scene is also brilliant as originally written by William shakespeare and conceived for television by Trevor Nunn. The dialogue is mainly the same as the play but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The scene also consists of two more characters the gentlewoman and the doctor. They do a fine job in the scene but really anybody could’ve played them. Their placement was a little awkward as well. They seemed too close to Lady Macbeth who could’ve woken up from their conversation. If they were far away then it would make a little more sense, but luckily the cameras don 't focus on them as much as Judi Dench. The camera angles in the scene were also fantastic. They truly captured the facial expressions of Judi Dench and are a reason as to why this scene is so