Best Macbeth movie available on DVD?

[Angel Tarragon]

I'd like to purchase the best Macbeth movie available on DVD, but am not sure which one that would be, as I've only seen one incarnation and that was back in High School (some 12-14 years ago). Help!

EDIT: Also, I'd prefer a version that has closed captioning/english subtitles.

 

[jonesy]

I don't know about best (because I haven't seen many of them), but I really like the version by Roman Polanski.

Checking from Amazon it has:
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC

 

[Dioltach]

Some years ago, the BBC did an Animated Shakespeare series, of which Macbeth was the only one I liked. Don't know whether it's available on DVD though.

As an aside, have you read Kiig Hereafter by Dorothy Dunnett? A fantastic novel (well, obviously, as it's by Dorothy Dunnett) about Macbeth in his historical context.

 

[shilsen]

I've seen a few of the existing Macbeth movies (including Polanski) and sadly I've never encountered one that did the play justice. Which is a pity, since there are at least a couple of good movie versions of most of Shakespeare's tragedies, and Macbeth (like most of his stuff) is pretty well suited to cinema.

 

[Simon Atavax]

I don't know about best (because I haven't seen many of them), but I really like the version by Roman Polanski.

Checking from Amazon it has:
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC

I'll second the Polanski film. It's a bit dated by today's standards (if I recall there is some awkward frame-skipping during the fight sequence to make it seem faster-paced) but superb acting and a strong translation of the play (as strong as can be rendered in a film, which is a different medium, of course).

Two possible gripes:

1. Polanski shows Macbeth stabbing Duncan in the throat, and blood squirts out. Shakespeare has the murder take place off-screen.

2. Polanski adds a scene to the end of the film that isn't in the play. It's an intriguing scene (only a few seconds long, and no dialogue), but some consider it heresy to add anything to Shakespeare's story.

** Fortunately, Polanski ignores the Hecate nonsense that has sneaked into so many modern texts of the play.

 

[TwinBahamut]

I have heard that Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood is the best film adaptation of Macbeth ever made, despite being a Japanese samurai film. Go figure. In case it is important, this was mentioned to me by the professor from my Shakespeare classes in college. I have no idea if the film is on DVD, though.

 

[shilsen]

I have heard that Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood is the best film adaptation of Macbeth ever made, despite being a Japanese samurai film. Go figure. In case it is important, this was mentioned to me by the professor from my Shakespeare classes in college. I have no idea if the film is on DVD, though.

While not being a big Kurosawa fan myself, I did find Throne of Blood very well made. I would place a lot of emphasis on adaptation when it comes to its relationship with Macbeth, however. While it's obviously heavily inspired by the Shakespeare text, it is very much its own story, not just in form but in content.