Another tidbit I admire about the Michael Fassbender/Marion Cotillard Macbeth film is that they have the scenes that Shakespeare didn't put on stage; This movie shows the execution of the Thane of Cawdor that is only mentioned in the original play. They SHOW the murder of King Duncan by Macbeth. They show the horses going crazy.
I haven't finished the movie yet, but I'll let you know if they show Lady Macbeth killing herself or Lady Macduff getting offed.
Friday, December 13, 2019
End of Days
In order to show the severity of Duncan's murder, Shakespeare wrote some unnatural disturbances the night of his death: an owl kills a falcon, the king's horses go wild and eat each other, endless night, etc. Well, on the REAL NEWS today, there is a story of how some salmon farmers rescued a BALD EAGLE that was BEING ATTACKED by an OCTOPUS!!! If any important figures in politics die today, we can point to this story as a precursor. Right now my guess would be some Korean dictator (Octopus) is going to attack a U.S. politician (bald eagle), and then get rescued by salmon farmers (Canada). Thank you, Canada. You're just like Scotland only better!
Thursday, December 12, 2019
MacMichael MacFassbender
I started watching Macbeth the Movie, the one with Michael Fassbender (who played young Magneto in X-men movies btw) and Marion Cotillard (whom I love), but I'm not impressed. Everyone in the play is depressed, lethargic, and bored. Even King Duncan when he learns that the civil war in Scotland is over and he has won seems sad. The witches are so lethargic they look like they haven't had a meal in weeks. The movie has no stone castles, no suits of armor, no trumpets, and no energy, so I suppose it is more historically accurate than all other productions of Macbeth. Director Justin Kerzel makes Scotland look like a bleak, barren landscape with lots of geothermic steam coming out of many holes in the ground.
Despite its depressing impressions, there are several aspects I enjoy about the film:
1. Marion Cotillard--even though she is not convincing as a mean lady--evil? Yes, but not mean.
2. They omit a lot of lines from Shakespeare to focus on their own story they are trying to tell, not Shakespeare's.
3. Dead child at the beginning
4. King Duncan names Malcolm Prince of Cumberland during Act II inside Macbeth's nomadic tent home.
5. It is ULTRA violent.
Despite its depressing impressions, there are several aspects I enjoy about the film:
1. Marion Cotillard--even though she is not convincing as a mean lady--evil? Yes, but not mean.
2. They omit a lot of lines from Shakespeare to focus on their own story they are trying to tell, not Shakespeare's.
3. Dead child at the beginning
4. King Duncan names Malcolm Prince of Cumberland during Act II inside Macbeth's nomadic tent home.
5. It is ULTRA violent.
The idiom: "Be all end all"
"The phrase the be-all and end-all is a noun that designates a thing that is much more important than all other things, the ultimate part of something." (Grammarist.com)
But this is not the way Macbeth uses it exactly. He says it when he is talking out loud to himself and the audience about killing King Duncan. Macbeth is stating that the blow that kills Duncan might be "the be-all and the end-all" moment--the impactful moment that could make all his dreams come true, as long as those dreams are about being the king of a country people don't really care that much about unless you're Canadian Mike Meyers.
I've never been able to wrap my brain around this idiom--which I guess is why it's an idiom (idioms are difficult to translate), which is why I'm opposed to idioms in general.
"Dead as a doornail" is another idiom that Shakespeare is responsible for, but it doesn't come from Macbeth, so I'm not going to dwell on it (it comes from Henry VI Part 2), but doornails were never alive in the first place, so how can it be dead? And I don't know what a door nail is, so why is it being compared to a thing that once had life? p.s. Chelsea Edge does not like for people to be called "things". I blame Wheel of Fortune for this.
But this is not the way Macbeth uses it exactly. He says it when he is talking out loud to himself and the audience about killing King Duncan. Macbeth is stating that the blow that kills Duncan might be "the be-all and the end-all" moment--the impactful moment that could make all his dreams come true, as long as those dreams are about being the king of a country people don't really care that much about unless you're Canadian Mike Meyers.
I've never been able to wrap my brain around this idiom--which I guess is why it's an idiom (idioms are difficult to translate), which is why I'm opposed to idioms in general.
"Dead as a doornail" is another idiom that Shakespeare is responsible for, but it doesn't come from Macbeth, so I'm not going to dwell on it (it comes from Henry VI Part 2), but doornails were never alive in the first place, so how can it be dead? And I don't know what a door nail is, so why is it being compared to a thing that once had life? p.s. Chelsea Edge does not like for people to be called "things". I blame Wheel of Fortune for this.
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
"Fiend-like queen"
In Act 5, Scene 8, Malcolm refers to Lady Macbeth as a "fiend-like queen" which I find interesting because Macbeth's real name is Mac Bethad Mac Findlach. Macbeth's last name looks a lot like "Fiend-like". Coincidence? I think Shakespeare came across this name in his Scottish research and used it in Malcolm's final speech on purpose. Lady Macbeth's real name btw was Grouch... ugh, what a beautiful name. If Shakespeare wanted to bestow a harsh name to a harsh character, he couldn't do much worse than Grouch.
Monday, December 9, 2019
Liar and slave!
When Macbeth's messenger tells him that a grove of trees are moving to Dunsinane in Act 5, Macbeth calls him a "Liar and a slave!" The former is because Macbeth doesn't want to believe that Birnham Wood could move to his castle because the witches warned him about that. The latter is interesting and not at all unique to Shakespeare's Macbeth.
In our modern culture, "slave" is not a put down like it once was. If someone calls you "slave" nowadays, it's because you're are controlled by some outside influence such as drugs, video games, or Justin Bieber, but "slave" used by Shakespeare meant a person of lowest rank. Slavery during the Renaissance did involve European colonization, but Shakespeare wasn't involved in colonization. He probably just meant someone of low social standing, like poor people.
In our modern culture, "slave" is not a put down like it once was. If someone calls you "slave" nowadays, it's because you're are controlled by some outside influence such as drugs, video games, or Justin Bieber, but "slave" used by Shakespeare meant a person of lowest rank. Slavery during the Renaissance did involve European colonization, but Shakespeare wasn't involved in colonization. He probably just meant someone of low social standing, like poor people.
Beowulf vs. Macbeth
Things Macbeth has in common with Beowulf:
1. Savage on the battlefields
2. Never had offspring
3. Married a widow (The our some rumors that Beowulf may have married Hygelac's widow, Hygd, and Macbeth married Gruoch who had a son from a previous marriage.)
4. Became kings of their countries
5. Dealt with supernatural forces
6. Was a thane/Had thanes
Things Macbeth differs from Beowulf (besides the obvious)
1. Beowulf waited to be king so he didn't have to murder a family member
2. Beowulf had 50 years of relative peace as king
1. Savage on the battlefields
2. Never had offspring
3. Married a widow (The our some rumors that Beowulf may have married Hygelac's widow, Hygd, and Macbeth married Gruoch who had a son from a previous marriage.)
4. Became kings of their countries
5. Dealt with supernatural forces
6. Was a thane/Had thanes
Things Macbeth differs from Beowulf (besides the obvious)
1. Beowulf waited to be king so he didn't have to murder a family member
2. Beowulf had 50 years of relative peace as king
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)