Movie Comparison: Macbeth In this essay I will compare Roman Polanzki’s “Macbeth” with Shakespeare’s script for the play. “Macbeth” is a great play written by Shakespeare in 1606, but it lacks certain details to turn it into a movie. This is where movie directors come in; they are to add in the needed scenes and change things to spice up certain events. Movies provide much more flexibility than plays, but also have to be much more detailed. Some of the most important details are the costumes. Polanzki and his team did a good job with the clothes and armors to reflect the time period and location. There are some differences in the costumes however; for example the witches don’t have beards and in one scene they are naked. Also, Polanzki changed the setting in some scenes; like the beginning scene where the witches met on a beach instead of a battlefield, and they were burying things instead of dropping them in a cauldron. The different setting and events are also confusing for someone who didn’t read Shakespeare’s play but it still sets a mood of mystery and evil. In fact, all of the witches’ scenes are different than in the play, with different costumes, settings and actions. The witches may even be confused with some old women that are spilling out prophecies. The only similarities are the prophecies that they gave to Macbeth and Banquo. Other than these changes, Polanzki did a good job with the setting, creating an interesting atmosphere and reflecting the background of that time. Costumes, large settings and attention to small details are what turns a play into a realistic movie, but acting and the events are what makes a movie. The acting is done of course by actors who play in their character roles. Unlike the costumes and setting, the characters aren’t exactly specified, which gives the directors the job to find suitable actors to fit different roles. Polanzki managed to find some really good actors that fir right in, with the exception of Duncan who was supposed to be older. Polanzki did change the script in other scenes than the witches. He added a scene where Duncan wakes up before being murdered by Macbeth, they struggle, but Macbeth still kills him. Then Macbeth kills the guards after the murder is discovered, and uses someone else’s sword who witnesses the slaying. Another added scene is Macbeth dreaming of Banquo and his son killing him. Polanzki also changed the ambush scene to happen during the day and to use some sort of tree roadblock trap. The murderers also hit Banquo in the back, and threw him into a river. Some of these added scenes would have been difficult to be acted out in a play, but they fit perfectly in a movie. The movie does follow Shakespeare’s script closely, except for the witches’ scenes which would have been better off unchanged. Polanzki made a really good movie, with the exception of some disturbing parts, but the added scenes really enhanced the plot. By: Andrei Tudor