7/29/2019 The Opening Scene of Macbeth and Its Cinematic Adaptations ("Throne of blood", "Polanski's Macbeth" and "Maq

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The opening scene of Macbeth and its cinematic adaptations (Throne oblood, Polanskis Macbeth and Maqbool

A cinematic reading of Shakespeare is difficult to pertain as a large volume of criticism on it exists in itself. An

adaptation involves the ideological connotations of a film-maker and relies on its socio-cultural associations with thaudience. Thus when Akira Kurosawa, Roman PolanskiorVishal bharadwajadaptsMacbeth, it becomes their own

reation elevating them as the new authors. An adaptation is unable to solve the purist problem as it can never reta

ts purity or faithfulness to the original text. This is because adaptation implies a relocation or recontextualization of

ext. ThusMaqboolprojecting the underpinning of underworld in Mumbai orThrone of Bloodpresenting the feudalapan during the civil wars create a new diagetic code altogether. A cinematic adaptation of a text is transference fro

a verbal to a visual medium. But in case of drama, its from one visual medium to another. Cinema has a different

narrative structure accompanied by visuals unlike a play where visual effects are mostly created with the help ofanguage by using metaphors. According to post structuralism language plays the most important role in the text.

Roland Barthes, in his essay The Death of the Author (1968) declares that author is the epitome and culmination o

apitalist ideology. Barthes replaces author by scriptor who is not a bundle of passions and impressions but theowner of an immense dictionary. Thus when the film makers Vishal Bharadwaj and Akira Kurosawa craftMacbeth

heir own languages, they generate their own authorship bestowing a different form of purity to the text making it

ndependent from the Shakespearean tragedy. However Polanski keeps the Shakespearean language intact and creatdiagetic code solely based on the semiotic non verbal elements.

A diachronic study ofMacbeth positions the adaptations in acceptable social milieus and the political implications o

he respected time periods. Shakespeare wroteMacbeth in 1606. It is important to consider the political context inwhich it was written, as that is the key to the main theme of the play. Throne of blood (1957)projects the feudal Jap

during the civil wars and the military strives.Polanskis Macbeth (1971), though portrays a traditionalMacbeth, it

pitomizes a disturbing version of the original play with dark overtone of gross brutality and nudity which was

undoubtedly colored with the personal bereavement and his psychological depression.Maqbool (2003) emerges as tparadigm of modern Mumbai illustrating the politics of the under world.

ShakespearesMacbeth has instigated voluminous criticism on its opening scene (Act I, Scene I). Shakespeare prov

a somewhat Aristotelian beginning where the witches are seen in medias res of their conversation providing choric

nformation about the battle being fought and their future meeting with Macbeth. The deserted battlefield, the topsy

urvy weather with thunder and lightning, their dialogues in wayward rhythm, all prepare us for a drama in which ahuman soul succumbs to the supernatural suggestions of evil and ranges itself along with the witches on the devils

ide. This scene serves as the prologue of the play and the penultimate line Fair is foul, and foul is fair becomes th

governing ideology of the play. The weird sisters act as the embodiment of fate and destiny popular in the Greekragedies. In the filmic adaptations, this scene had to execute a similar effect on its audience. For critiquing the

adaptations of the first scene in all the three movies i.e. Throne of blood,Polanskis Macbeth &Maqbool, a formalianalysis of the semiotic details would be adequate.

Kurosawa makes explicit use of visuals and sounds to convey his notions in the opening scene. The scene opens on

bleak setting of a series of mountains shrouded with fog. The camera pans through the entire region exhibiting itsprofound desolation. The use of wind as the background score creates an uneasiness which gets intensified with the

hanting of the chorus and use of music that establishes a fearful atmosphere. The fog adds a feeling of uncertainty.

The unknown chorus functions as the prologue. The fact that the physicality of the witches is negated embodies the

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uncertainty of the line: Fair is foul, and foul is fair. Question arises that do these voices belong to the witches? Th

where are they? The fog becomes literal establishing doubt and unease in the audience. The panning of camera

ontinues in the meantime. As the chorus chants in Japanese,Behold within this place now desolated,

Stood once a mighty fortress.

Lived a proud warrior murdered by ambitionhe camera pans alongside the slope of a mountain guiding into a grave, thus signifying the downfall of Macbeth.

Kurosawa blends theatre with cinema using metaphor on a different level through the totality of his presentation. Th

nfluence of theNoh music constructs a parallel between the theme ofMacbeth and the medieval Japan in whichKurosawa stations his film. The chorus eventually is not only about Macbeth. It acts as a metonymy denoting the

ivalry of different regimes during the Onin War. Fog also has a cinematic purpose of time travel. The chorus chants

about a warrior and the fog takes the audience in his era.

When it comes to Polanski, he relies only on the natural sounds and hence focusing entirely on the visuals for

deciphering the first scene. Polanski chose a grey, rain-swept beach as his locale which mirrored his turmoil as a res

of his personal loss. The camera is focused on the sky as it dawns and unlike Shakespeare who preferred a topsy-tur

ness of weather, Polanskis version presents a clear sky. The calmness in the weather is probably relevant only as anndication of an upcoming storm. The witches arrive but they are only partly visible. The camera zooms out to prese

all the three witches involved in a witch-craft. The extreme close-up used to show the ingredients of their witch-crafstablish their importance as witches. ShakespearesMacbeth had no mention of any witch-craft in the opening scen

but Polanski introduces it to accustom his audience with the brutality that would follow. Considering the items of

witch-craft, the calmness of the weather only appears ironical. Polanski uses repulsive signifiers creating an atmosphof terror and disgust. The shot projecting the falcon in the sky, the nook, the cut portion of hand, the dagger, the blo

all are suggestions of the future. Polanski forms a different ideology with these signifiers. His version ofMacbeth

accordingly can also be said to have a choric beginning. The witches utter Fair is foul, and foul is fair in the very

beginning which was not the case in the original text. The hand holding the dagger and the nook are manifestations Macbeths deeds. Like Kurosawa, Polanski also uses fog but he uses it to change the scene and take his audience to

battle field.

Vishal Bharadwaj introduces an Indian Macbeth in hisMaqbooldealing with an entirely different social milieu than

hat of Shakespeare. The politics of Mumbai based underworld and the Hindu-Muslim diagetic code acts as its centr

heme. Bharadwaj has a different ideology which is reflected in Maqbool. The witches in Shakespeare determine thepolitics of the state from the margin, subverting the patriarchal dominance. Bharadwaj creates a derivative discourse

functioning at two distinct levels in his treatment of the witches. He creates gender ambivalence. The opening scene

focuses on the two corrupt male police officers who are the equivalent of the three witches. On one hand, the two

orrupted officers purohit and pandit control the underworld politics from the periphery as did the witches. On tother hand, they are Hindu by religion and manipulate the incidents of the Muslim underworld. The scene opens in

thunder and rain as Shakespeare prescribed. On the window of a police van, a horoscope (janam patri) is being dra

by one of the cops. As inMacbeth, the scene opens in medias res as the drunken cops babble about the encounter ofraitor, comparable to the war inMacbeth. The horoscope is of Mumbai which is destined to be ruled by Maqbool. A

number of shots show the dialogues between Maqbool and the cops and results in the encounter of the other traitor w

was so far being terrorized by the two of them. Mumbai plays an important role in Bharadwajs version. The bloodtained horoscope of Mumbai epitomizes the fate of Maqbool. Bharadwaj uses a blue tone creating an ambience of

mystery in his use of light and darkness.

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To conclude, the adaptations ofMacbeth by these three different authors (film makers) deal with their different soci

milieus and distinctive ideologies, but the first scene bears an adaptive unity and analogy with the Shakespearean tex

n maintaining the Aristotelian beginning of the Greek tragedies by using chorus to predict the progress of action.