YMMV / Macbeth (1971)

• Alternate Character Interpretation: The added ending with Donalbain going to visit the witches could be interpreted cynically - with the possibility that the Cycle of Revenge will continue. Or you could look at it more positively, with Donalbain going to punish the witches for their role in his father's death and preventing them from causing any more destruction to the kingdom, however the historical Donalbain's ascension to the throne leaves little room for this interpretation unfortunately.
• Applicability: Film scholars have interpreted this version's violence, brutality and cynicism as being responses not just to the Manson Family murders - but also The Vietnam War and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr..
• Best Known for the Fanservice: The film is highly remembered for Francesca Annis's Lady Macbeth being naked with Godiva Hair for the "out damned spot" mad scene. It's probably supposed to be Fan Disservice as her Naked Nutter freakout underscores her madness, but then again, she's awfully good-looking.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: When Macbeth goes to see the Weird Sisters on the subject of Macduff, he finds them all naked and in the company of many, equally naked witches. It is the only time these witches appear, so it just causes the question of who they are?
• Broken Base:
  • The Face Heel Door Slam in Macbeth's murder of Duncan. Some hate the change, finding it takes away any agency in what Macbeth does. Others find it an interesting way to play with the murder.
  • At the time, the decision to make Lady Macbeth younger was seen as a controversial one - since she's usually depicted as middle-aged or older than her husband; taking historical fact into account, Macbeth was her second husband, and she was either his age or a decade younger (in Middle Age Britain, girls were married as young as twelve, so her being married twice and still being a young twentysomething is plausible). Over the years however, opinions have softened towards how she plays the character (see below).
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Jon Finch later starred in Death on the Nile, getting engaged to a character played by Olivia Hussey - who had famously played Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (1968).
  • Jon Finch was also the first choice for Doyle in The Professionals, which went to Martin Shaw when he turned it down. Martin Shaw played Banquo in this version.
• Moment of Awesome: Banquo saving his son by aiming and shooting an arrow across the river at his son's assailant. Sadly, this requires him to turn his back on his own assailant, and he is killed as a result.
• Nightmare Fuel: The film has a Bloodier and Gorier reputation for a reason!
  • One of the earliest scenes has an execution victim leaping to his death by hanging, which is done by a chain.
  • The aftermath of Duncan's murder, where the scapegoats are slaughtered. In this version, it looks like Lady Macbeth's fainting is for real because of it.
  • A subtle scene is Lady Macbeth realising how much more bloodshed is going to happen because of the plan. The way Francesca Annis says "what's to be done?" suggests she's terrified at what'll happen.
  • The massacre of Castle Macduff. Lady Macduff's conversation with her son is interrupted by screaming, and she then sees a serving girl being raped in the hallway. Her son is stabbed in front of her and she flees to another room, where she discovers the bodies of the rest of her children, and her estate in flames. We don't see how she dies, but we probably don't want to.
• Overshadowed by Controversy: The stories of the film's brutality and nudity were generating a buzz about just how gory or explicit it would be - especially an anecdote from set that producers were trying to get Roman Polanski to tone some of the violence down. Some viewers were then surprised that there was less Gorn than promised.
• Realism-Induced Horror: Roman Polański drew on his childhood memories of the SS ransacking his house for the scene where Lady Macduff is murdered - and that makes it all the more harrowing.
  • It is also worth remembering that this was Polanski's first film after a hiatus following the murder of Sharon Tate.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Sadly, Malcolm's role is downplayed, despite having a RADA graduate and talented actor in Stephan Chase.
• Vindicated by History: The film was dismissed at the time it was released, being seen as a lot of senseless violence that evoked the Manson Family murders and cheap nudity for the sake of Fanservice, in addition to Francesca Annis being seen as a horrendous miscasting as Lady Macbeth, being thought too young for the role. This sentiment actually lingered on for quite some time, as a critic in a 2002 review described Annis as "a better fit for Melrose Place". Over time the film has been seen in a better light, and Francesca Annis's performance too is seen as a refreshing take on Lady Macbeth's more Obviously Evil image - opting for a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing, Light Is Not Good take.

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