Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Macbeth cinematic/thematic essay

Macbeth cinematic/thematic essay

1A. (1.3.53) “Good sir, why do you start and seem to fear things that do sound so fair? - Banqou
 
 B.  This quote fits the section “superstition effects human behavior” for a couple of reasons.  Banqou says this to Macbeth after the three witch's tell him his first three prophecy's, about coming king.  This startles Macbeth and he doesn’t know what to think about it. He knows that there is a king and he doesn’t want to overthrow him. At this point in the play he is loyal to the king and would never think of treason and that's why he doesn’t like to hear these first three prophecy's. This makes you think that Macbeth is a loyal guy who would never do anything bad. Banqou doesn’t understand why he takes it the wrong way, but later in the play he will understand why Macbeth feared these first prophecy's.
 
 C. In the movie this is an important scene where they spend a descant amount of time on. The setting takes place in Macbeth's castle, in a big empty room. The room is Dark with little lighting, most of the light is on the witches and Macbeth, the rest is dark. I think that Goold chose to do this to had a kind of dramatic effect to get your attention solely on the characters. When the witch's start talking to Macbeth there is dialogue between the four of them and it switches back and forth from eye level to eye level. This is to show the emotion or feeling from the person. You can really tell how the person is feeling about a situation. Lastly there is a lot of echos in the room which is the reiterate the importance of what is going on.

 D. After seeing this quote expressed in the film rather in the book I still understand the importance of the scene. This was a important passage in the book and we spent some time going over it. When I saw it in the movie it just gave me a new way to look at it. I think that the movie though did a good job portraying this scene because it was an important one.    
   
2A.  (2.3.115.) “ O, yet I do repent me of my fury, That I did kill them. - Macbeth

 B.  This quote falls under the “power corrupts” section because it’s Macbeth’s first time where he gets his hands dirty so to speak. He says this right after Lenox finds the king dead and the guards. Macbeth is saying that he killed the guards in fury because they supposedly killed the king. Macbeth is pretending to be very angry during this scene so it looks like he didn’t set up the assassination of the king. Also it makes him feel a little less guilty about it if he can get away with it and blame it on the guards.  Macbeth seems very self conscious during this scene because he wants to make sure everyone believes his story.
 
 C. This scene in the movie takes place at Macbeth's castle in his kitchen with a lot of people around. It is late at night and people seemed to just woken up by all the commotion.  Everyone that talks in this scene is talking in a very serious stern voice to get there point across about the situation. Goold uses the camera to follow Macbeth around to highlight all of his body movements and actions. He is the center piece of this scene and they show how the killings are effecting his behavior.

 D. This scene in the movie was very tense scene and it seemed more tense than the book. In the movie I really felt the reality of the situation rather in the book it didn’t seem that important. You could really see how it was effecting Macbeth, he was pacing around and rambling on in sentences. So much that Lady Macbeth had to intervene and make a distraction. This scene in the movie gave me a deeper understanding of this quote.

3A. (4.2.5.) “ when our actions do not, our fears make us traitors” - Lady Macduff

 B.  This quote fits under the “things are not what they seem” section in our notes. Lady Macduff says this when she is talking to Ross about how Macduff fled to England. She knows that her husband isn't a traitor but to the rest of the world fleeing away right after the king dies seems to make you look like a traitor. She seems upset that he had left and left her and his children behind. Which then led to there assassination because there was no one to protect them.

 C. This scene in the movie takes place at changing room for a pool with Ross and Lady Macduff and kids there. There is a lot of white and natural light in the room. Which could symbolize the innocents of Lady Macduff and the kids who are about to get assassinated.  There is a lot of dialogue back and forth between Ross and Lady Macduff.  But almost every time that they showed lady Macduff the kids where in the background. This could be showing the ties between the mother and her children.

 D. This scene in the movie gave me a totally different perspective than I had originally from the reading. I was not expecting the seen to be where it was in the movie and it was kind of strange to me at first. Then there was dialogue between Ross and Lady Macduff. Lady Macduff seem to be more powerful and strong willed than I intentionally expected and the complete opposite for Ross I didn’t know he was such a wuss.

4A. (5.8.19) “Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother’s womb Untimely ripped.”-  MacDuff

 B.  This quote is a perfect example of the section “ things are not what they seem”. This scene is at the end of the play when MacDuff tells Macbeth that he is not born of women but he was born in a cesarean birth. This Makes MacDuff eligible to kill Macbeth. Before this Macbeth thought that he was invincible. When he hears MacDuff say that he doesn't know how to react to it.

 C.  This scene in the movie might be the most important in the whole movie and I think that director Robert Goold does a great job portray it. MacDuff and Macbeth are alone in a big room with just lights on them for dramatic effect and to highlight each individual character. When MacDuff tells Macbeth that he is not born of women he has this shock on his face and they really zoom into his face and capture it really well. Both actors where talking very loudly to build up the suspense of what was going on.

 D. This scene really gave me a deeper understanding of what happened in the book. I know that this was an important scene in the book but I couldn’t really imagine it and where it would be taking place and I think that movie did a great job for this final battle between Macbeth and MacDuff.

4 comments:

  1. 1.) Alex and I had the same quote by Lady Macduff. Our reaction to how Lady Macduff was acting during this part of the film was the same. We both agree that she is angry at Macduff for fleeing. Alex, however, thought this quote was a lot more powerful than I did. I thought this quote lacked some of the suspense there should have been behind it, but it was still portrayed well in the film.

    3.) I really like how Alex's first quote sounds. Banquo is calling out Macbeth on the fact that he is acting weird over things that he shouldn't. This quote definitely fits into the "superstition effects human behavior" theme. This was a very important quote in the play and it was portrayed well in the film.

    4.) I thought Alex's last quote, by Macduff, was the quote that was best portrayed in the film. From reading the play, we all knew it was going to be very intense because this is right before Macbeth is killed. Macduff, in the film, said this quote with so much passion and in the perfect tone of voice to get his point across. Also the setting around this quote was very well thought out and Robert Goold did a good job at making this scene look as important as it really is.

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  2. 2. I too chose a quote by Banquo. It was interesting how we both chose a quote concerning from the first scene with the witches. Banquo seems to be deceived throughout this scene, he knows not what the prophecy truly means. I also commented on the dim lighting the scene used, but I noted that it added a sinister effect to the scene.

    3. My favorite of the four quotes you chose was Macduff’s, “Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother’s womb Untimely ripped.” I found this scene particularly pivotal in the story of Macbeth because it marked the end of evil reign. I liked this quote because it fulfills the prophecy and ties everything together for Macbeth, it puts the nail in his coffin. These words also prevented Macbeth from killing Macduff in the end.

    4. The quote I picked as my favorite was probably the best portrayed in the movie. It was a dramatic scene and ultimately it decided the fate of Macbeth. Before Macduff says the line, he is shot while charging towards Macbeth. Macbeth becomes pretty confident following this, but Macduff’s words completely drain all of the bravado Macbeth had previously. The way Goold makes the scene as dramatic as the scene in the play allowed it to translate well to the screen.

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  3. 1.) I also used a quote by Macbeth, our response and our reaction towards what he said was somewhat the same, we had the same key features but i think he forgot the whole part of what it was about. it was about suspicion of what he had done. Overall it was well developed and was a great quote that showed a lot about his character

    3.) Out of all the quote that you had chosen, i like the one that i had also done, this quote was a very good quote an it had explained how ones ambition can turn into ones questions on what he had done. this is just one that had more behind it then what was shown.

    4.) I think the last quote that he had used was the best portrayed in the movie. it was going to be a good scene because we had already known what was going to happen. it was a passionate scene and when Macduff killed macbeth it was just something more.

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  4. 1. Both Alex and I used the same quote from act 4 scene 2. I agree with Alex's analysis of the quote, we both feel that this shows that lady Macduff has accepted that it may seem like her husband could be King Duncan's killer due to his fleeing but "things aren't always as they seem" and this leads to there assassination. Some cinematic elation that relate between mine and Alex's analysis include that i too though there was a lot of innocence in the room with all the natural light, and the children were always in the shot so it showed how there bond was close and would lead to the death of all of them. Our observations were similar in the way that we both viewed the actors as looking innocent and we both recognized the faint natural lighting in the room hat helped to set the mood and let us know how they were feeling knowing they too were probably going to be killed after there husband/father fled.
    3. “ O, yet I do repent me of my fury, That I did kill them." - Macbeth
    This quote was my favorite because it really shows Macbeths true colors. I like how in the movie when he kills the guards it almost seems like the others in the room are already suspicious of him and his wife has to distract them from Macbeths rant to alter there thoughts. Macbeths showed he cared for his king but he also showed a bit of his true crime by doing so. This Quote is saying that After having seen the brutally murdered body of his king, he is so filled with rage when he finds out that it was the guards who killed him, he kills them, But really it was he who killed king Duncan and he is trapped in his own lies.
    4. I think that Alex's last quotes is the one which is best portrayed in the movie, just after Macduff says this,he runs towards Macbeth whom is now speechless because he realizes the sisters tricked him and he is actually going to die. This quote is intense in the nook and the movie portrayed it very well as it showed how horrified Macbeth was when he knew he was at the end of his life.

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