Vous voulez voir cette page en français ? Cliquez ici.

Have one to sell? Sell yours here

Macbeth (1948) [Import, All Regions]

Orson Welles , Jeanette Nolan , Orson Welles    DVD
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)

Currently unavailable.
We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.



What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Product Details


Product Description

South Korean Edition DVD/ Sound in English / Optional Korean Subtitles , easy to turn OFF..*****Summary: __11th-century Scottish nobleman Macbeth is led by an evil prophecy and his ruthless yet desirable wife to the treasonous act that makes him king. But he does not enjoy his newfound, dearly-won kingship.

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought


Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars "Returning were as tedious as go o'er." April 30 2004
Format:VHS Tape
The good news? For his last Hollywood film of the 1940s, Orson Welles delivered a low-budget, inventive, expressionist Shakespeare adaptation that served as a template for his experimental European films. The bad news? Welles perhaps captures the eerie mood of "The Scottish Play" all too well; the film is an unrelentingly dark and often uncomfortable experience. The lugubrious pacing and indifferent acting offer little respite from the play's fatalism.

A little background helps one better appreciate this film. After a string of box office failures (including "The Magnificent Ambersons" and "The Lady from Shanghai"), Welles signed on with Republic Pictures to do a low-budget "Macbeth," hoping that he could popularize Shakespeare on film as he had done on radio and in the theatre. His actors rehearsed the play on tour, and painstakingly pre-recorded their dialogue in Scottish brogues. Welles then shot the film in 23 days, some kind of record for him. Well, you can guess what happened: The studio hated it. They forced Welles to cut 20 minutes from the film, and made the actors re-dub their dialogue with "normal" accents - wasting all that time they spent in pre-production. The film bombed on release and Welles spent the next 10 years working in Europe.

Years later, the original prints were found and released as another "Lost Welles Classic." Unfortunately, time has devalued that label; "Macbeth" doesn't quite meet the standard set by "Othello" or "Touch of Evil," two other films that were restored after Welles' death. While the Scottish accents are a nice touch, the extra running time actually robs the film of some momentum. Welles did wonders with the cheap Republic sets; the film is a masterpiece of expressionist set design. The same can't be said of the costumes, which make Welles look like the Statue of Liberty at one point. Constrained by having to sync their movements to pre-recorded dialogue, the actors deliver wooden performances (only the soliloquies, delivered in voice-over, resonate). Fortunately, the last twenty minutes are visually captivating and offer enough Wellesian moments to make the viewing worthwhile.

If Welles fails to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear - as he would later do with "Othello" and "Chimes of Midnight" - he succeeds in developing an expressionist style that he would later perfect with his bizarro masterpiece "The Trial." "Macbeth" isn't exactly an enjoyable movie experience; indeed, "returning were as tedious as go o'er." But for the Welles aficionado, "Macbeth" provides an essential link between Welles' Hollywood years and the independent style of his European work.

Was this review helpful to you?
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Another Great From the Master April 25 2004
By D. Pope
Format:VHS Tape
I own this film on VHS and on Laserdisc and I am hoping that it will soon come out on DVD. Certainly there are some technical problems with the production, but it is a 1948 film so some of that can be excused.

Welles vision of MacBeth has the texture and feel of a nightmare. The backdrops are unfinished, muddy charicatures of the objects and places they represent. Scotland is an eerie, nightmarish landscape that is constantly misty and partially unformed. The use of the b&w medium superbly creates a feeling of dread and foreboding in the audience who is drawn ever deeper into the madness of the story. This is vintage Welles, who loved to make the tone, timbre, hue and texture of every part of the movie relate to and support the story he was filming. Certainly the work of a genius.

Most people know the basic story. MacBeth (Which literally means "Son of Life"), is given a prophesy that he will become king of Scotland and tells his wife of the prophesy. Lady MacBeth then uses MacBeth's insecurities to manipulate him into murdering the true king and assuming his throne. Guilt-ridden and paranoid, MacBeth begins a reign of tyranny and sinks into madness. Finally, the English invade and end his reign of terror. MacBeth, who is shown as no more than a pawn in this story, finally gains a measure of grace and dignity when he faces MacDuff in combat. We finally see in death the couragous man MacBeth could have been - indeed was before he allowed his and his wife's greed to corrupt him - MacBeth rises above his fate and becomes master of his own destiny by crying-out the infamous phrase "Lead on MacDuff, and damn the man who first cries hold - enough".

All in all, I have been impressed with this film from the first time I viewed it and I do hope it comes soon to DVD.

A note on the soundtrack - In 1949 the studio refused to release this movie until Welles overdubbed the original Scottish Brogue with more traditional Shakespearian English-accented speech, arguing that the Scottish was unintelligible. I think the most important part of the reconstruction of this film is the return of the original Scottish soundtrack - It adds so much to the grittiness and the darkness of the movie. After two or three viewings, most of the dialog comes clear, so in the first viewing the accent is just a bit of an inconvenience.

Was this review helpful to you?
5.0 out of 5 stars SHAKESPEARE AS EXPRESSIONIST NIGHTMARE Sep 17 2002
By K. Jump
Format:VHS Tape
Many have cited "Macbeth" as a horror story, and whether or not that's exactly true, Orson Welles' superior production is certainly an excursion into nightmare that even a Murnau would have envied. The sets and camerawork create a world of wet, windswept badlands and dark stone mazes in which it is difficult not to believe in witches and omens and where bloodletting indeed seems the order of the day. Though a low-budget production, Welles' movie never looks cheap and his mileu never less than convincing. Welles' own portrayal of the doomed protagonist is dead-on, and while Jeanette Nolan's performance as the scheming, hard-hearted Lady Macbeth is often harshly criticized, in many ways her vampiric interpretation of the character is unsurpassed. Likewise Roddy McDowall (Malcolm) and Dan O'Herlihy (Macduff) are definitive in their roles, and Alan Napier is strong as a "Holy Friar" who is the movie's conscience. An enrapturing cinematic experience from the Weird Sisters' mesmerizing invocation to the climactic siege of Macbeth's castle (featuring a great sword fight between Welles and O'Herlihy), Welles' "Macbeth" is classic moviemaking that will endure as long as darkness moves the hearts of men and women.
Was this review helpful to you?
Want to see more reviews on this item?
Most recent customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars Orson Welles was an egomaniac
Yes Orson Welles was one of the most influential filmmakers in the United States, but he was also an egomaniac. Orson takes on William in his adaptation of 'Macbeth'. Read more
Published on Jun 25 2003 by Dhaval Vyas
1.0 out of 5 stars This "experiment," if that's what is, does not merit respect
This production is not without some virtues, such as the eerie realism with which it presents the primitive, brutal, and pious texture of life in medieval Scotland. Read more
Published on April 10 2002 by Michael Scully
5.0 out of 5 stars His Shakespeare was the greatest of them all....
People talk about Citizen Kane, but they forget that Orson
Welles "wowwed them on Broadway" with his West Indies style
Macbeth, and then did it again with a... Read more
Published on Dec 17 2001 by SF Fan
3.0 out of 5 stars Out, Brief Candle...
Orson Welles tackles one of Shakespeares most bizarre tragedies. Filled with blood, hallucinations, revenge, villainy and three prophesizing witches, MACBETH borders on the... Read more
Published on Sep 11 2001 by GLENN WHELAN
3.0 out of 5 stars Welles does Will, Sort of
Can't say I really cared for this, though it did evoke plenty of atmosphere. I was reminded of G.K. Hunter's remark that Welles "set the play (evidently) in the sartorial reign of... Read more
Published on Aug 3 2001 by James R. Mccall
2.0 out of 5 stars Flawed but interesting
I love this play, and I usually love Welles, but this film doesn't do it for me. The loooong dramatic pauses and sing-song treatment of lines turn it into a reverent Recital Of... Read more
Published on Mar 28 2001 by Teacher
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!
My only complaint about this movie is that some important scenes like the march of 8 kings followed by Banquo's ghost are deleted. Read more
Published on Nov 8 2000 by Sean Ares Hirsch
5.0 out of 5 stars Orson Welles And Shakespeare At Their Best
Without a doubt Orson Welles is the perfect American compliment for William Shakespeare. Superbly directed and acted on a melancholy stage in haunting black and white, the poetic... Read more
Published on July 23 2000
5.0 out of 5 stars AMAZING FILM
I SAW THE FILM AT THE FINE ARTS MUSEUM (BS.AS.)AND IT CAUGHT ME. IT'S THE BEST VERSION I'VE EVER SEEN (BLACK AND WHITE ARE THE BEST COLORS FOR DRAMA). Read more
Published on May 5 2000 by "ospirin"
5.0 out of 5 stars It doesn't get any better....
If you hated "Citizen Kane" or "Vertigo", and thought "Jurassic Park 2" or "Titanic" the height of modern cinema... Read more
Published on Jan 25 2000 by Willy
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category


Feedback