Shakespeare Retold
Review time, now that we've watched all four.
The Taming of the Shrew
Yeah, see, on the whole? Not so much. I didn't believe in this Katherine. I actually think that Ten Things I Hate About You had a better script than this, at least as far as Kate is concerned. The British can be amazingly subtle in the way they portray things, but sometimes they are so awfully gaudy and loud and over the top. Shirly Henderson I liked in Intermission, but she annoys me in the HP movies (though considering who she plays - that would be Moaning Myrtle - being annoying means she's doing a good job of it) and I definitely did not like her here. She overacts it, and the character of Kate is completely 1) incredible, as in really, who in their right mind would vote for her? 2) everything but endearing or attractive, I actually wanted Petruchio to tame her well and good, christ.
Which brings me to the matter of Petruchio. Rufus Sewell. No need to say more, you might think? But one can never rant enough about Rufus Sewell. Especially when Petruchio was written just as outrageously loud as Kate, this eccentric member of the English nobility, but he managed to sell it, and make me care. Which is the thing, with me. You have to make me care. Make me care, and I become a ridiculously indulgent audience on some things. And Rufus, oh how he makes me care. There's his voice, and the way he carries himself, and he just sold this over-the-top character to me.
I know Petruchio and Kate both were over-the-top in the comedy to start with. I don't dispute that. And I respect the fact that they wanted to keep it this way in this adaptation, it's very honourable. Or something. Anyway, I truly respect that, I do. I just... In Ten Things, they made more realistic, in that "awfully pretty and old-looking high-schoolers" sort of way. Here, well, I'm gonna repeat myself, but I didn't believe in Kate.
Well, not until she started being tamed. That's when she touched me. In her distress, instead of anger. In her submission. Rufus managed to pull off the most outrageous moments (and what a joy it was), but I didn't truly begin to appreciate this film until that couple actually started to get on. The last scene I love. Because they've changed the focus, or maybe I didn't remember it in the original play. I should reread it. Because, well, in modern times it's rather hard to adapt this play, because Kate ends up ready to do Petruchio's bidding and that's a rather demeaning conclusion for all women. But not only does she remain that headstrong politician (the one I personally can't believe in, but it still stands for her individuality), there is also that last scene, where she points out that he would do the same for her, that this is the way they work, expecting nothing of each other, asking nothing of each other, that they aren't ready to do or give. Which is the idealised love story, really, inexistant because nobody clicks that well. But still, I rather liked that bit. And she's so tiny, next to him on that armchair. They truly make a good couple, when she isn't busy overdoing the rage factor.
Also, kudos to Jaime Murray in the role of Bianca. She's incredibly beautiful, I find, and have since I discovered her in Hustle. (I'm really wondering whether I shouldn't buy Hustle, actually).
Lines from the original play? Petruchio's first "kiss me Kate" didn't really go over, I found, but her response to it was brilliant. Ah, that scene in the lift. Rufus is such a good actor.
So, in the end: a bit overdone, and a rather shifty morale, but it is a Shakespearean comedy, and in that it stands to reason that it should be thus. I'll not carry it in my heart forever and ever after, but Rufus does as good a job as ever - and manages to pull off a certain something which, in itself, is quite worth seeing the film. Heh.
Much Ado About Nothing
Maybe my favourite Shakespearean comedy, because I adore witty banter and Beatrice is an incredibly strong female character that is not demeaned at any point. And Emma and Kenneth did an awesome job. So, honestly. Sarah Parish and Damien Lewis were nowhere near dear Emma and Kenneth, but then again I fell in love with that film back when I first saw it. It was my second Shakespeare adaptation, after Romeo + Juliet, and my first brush with Brannagh, and I loved Thompson, and I squeed at Robert Sean Leonard due to Dead Poets' Society, and I adored Keanu Reeves as John the Bastard. So maybe it's a bit harsh to compare this one to Brannagh's.
Now, let's see. Sarah Parish did make a lovely strong-yet-vulnerable Beatrice, and I enjoyed her character as much as ever. Damian Lewis's Benedick, that said, was less endearing than I usually find the poor man. He played the not-quite-a-loser very well, but eventually did become very endearing by the stage he convinced himself/realised he loved her. There is a lovely scene using a Shakespeare sonnet (116, obviously, as it seems that the world only knows three sonnets: 116 - let me not to the marriage of true minds, 18 - shall i compare thee, and 130 - my mistress' eyes), which speaks of so much tension and yet results in no kiss. Absolutely lovely.
Billie Piper was as blah as you can expect Hero to be. Much as I've learned to love her as Rose (think Doctor Who, people), well, this hasn't exactly convinced me that she is a good actress. But really, she's Hero. Hero is the blandest part on earth, although it was good to see her turn down Claude at the end. Claude, what about Claude. Well, as ever, I only start liking Claude when he shows his cruel side, when he humiliates her in front of the altar. Because only then does he become interesting. (That said, loved the accent.)
What else? Don, ah Don. They made him much more likeable than the original John, I find, which slightly put me off. I always loved hating John. Don I just felt sorry for, truly. But that guy's a good actor.
The whole transposition to a news show worked very well, I found. The setting was perfect for such a story. As far as using original lines is concerned, I can't rightly remember anything that struck me, either as good or bad. The banter was very well worked out, in any case, which is what matters most.
And for the record? The beard changes a lot. Oh my. I almost got a David Brent feel from him with the beard. Whereas, you know, Damian Lewis. (Who looks so much younger in Band of Brothers, which first episode I've just rewatched!)
A Midsummer Night's Dream
I fully expected to dislike this. I couldn't wrap my mind around how to adapt this one in modern times, and the prospect of Bottom? Well. Yeah. But Bottom actually got a few laughs out of me, notably with the David Brent impersonation that everybody was laughing over, really. Ah, David David David.
That said. I did not expect the actors, nor the script. Bill Paterson, who I loved in "Sea of Souls," and who made an extremely interesting Theo, paired off with Imelda Staunton, who was expectedly brilliant as Polly. The care the script showed both their characters, and how much it seemed to dig into their couple, that was brilliant. To make it not be about them from the start, but to show the process that led to his suggestion that they renew their vows instead. Lovely.
Oberon and Titania. Titania was... all right. She was good, really, she just didn't strike me. Oberon, now. Oh, Oberon. At first I thought I knew him from Casanova (Jack's manservant-slash-best-friend), but in fact it's from Snatch and Born With Two Mothers. And he is amazing. Again, the way the script sculpted those faerie sovereigns' marriage problems was lovely. And they were portrayed so beautifully by those two actors - mostly Lennie James, I'll admit, I'm biased. And of course, who else to pull off the few original lines? And they said them so well. Hmm.
Oh, and Lennie James wore that long coat thing that just made me want to broaden the fandoms in which to write coat!porn, for those who know what I'm talking about.
Now, to the subject of Puck. Puck, you have to get Puck right for me to like Midsummer. And did they. The accent, to start with. I love Lennie James' accent very badly, and Mr. Dean Lennox Kelly's just as much. Lennox Kelly, who happens to be brother to a certain Craig of the same last name, the very one that might have twixou suddenly cry out "Viiiiince" if she's reading this. And he was in "Shameless" as well, which is one more reason I really should have watched that series when I could. And back to the subject of Puck - I loved him. He was so out of it, and so mischievous, and so much about having fun, and he cared about humans but then didn't, really, only in his very own special way, and mostly he cared about himself, and Dean Lennox Kelly was brilliant. Puck is such a trickster.
Now, I can't say that I didn't feel the acute lack of Puck's original epilogue, at the end, but it is unfortunately true that suddenly switching to iambic pentameters wouldn't really have fit the character. But, I still felt the lack. Those lines are so much of what Midsummer's about, and the rewriting simply didn't hold the right poetry in it.
Now, Zoe Tapper was ever so enjoyable in Stage Beauty (she was Nell), but here? Hermia can sap the interest out of any actress. Hermia and Xander (Frederic in North and South! and Richard Rivers in Fingersmith, whoever that was, I can't say that I really enjoyed that series very much at all) I cared very little about. While I was originally put off by how much more sympathetic they were making James (Demetrius), I understand it and I felt more for him than for the other two. But it's really Helena who I think they did a superb job with. She was much less of a pushover than she originally is, and I really enjoyed the actress. Who seems to have done next to nothing outside of this, just a few guest appearances here and there. Anyway.
The whole thing with the mechanicals was funny enough, and even Bottom was a good one. The performance itself was rather enjoyable, I found, what with the faeries' interference.
I very much like the script, truth be told. How they didn't simply focus on the new lovers but also on the old marital troubles, their takes on faeries and their motivations, the very Shakespearean themes of nature reflecting the royal couple's fallout or - was it Puck's line? - "all this nature. it's not natural." The forray into the wilderness, almost craziness, Theo being seen talking to thin air, and the feeling of love permeating it all. I think what I love most is that it keeps all of the traits of a Shakespearean comedy, set in modern times, but it doesn't idealise love, or focus on newborn happy shiny love. Their take on love feels much more real, precisely because there is much lingering on and digging into the strife within already existing couples.
Ah, now I feel like watching it again.
Macbeth
I expected so much from Macbeth. It is, I think, why I feel slightly disappointed.
Don't get me wrong, the acting was brilliant. James McAvoy was as good as ever - and occasionally dressed in leather pants, I think they were trying to see if I would spontaneously self-combust, between that and the Scottish accent - and Keeley Hawes was amazing in her steady descent from being a neat freak to guilt-induced madness. We did not see enough of Macduff, really, but Richard Armitage still managed to break me, and he didn't even need a word. It was a shot from far away, and he just collapsed to the floor with grief, and just the movement itself... watch out for this actor, people. He ought to make it, and big.
The two surprises, actor-wise, were Vincent Regan ("Rescue Me" (UK) and "Hustle"... wait, he was in B. Monkey too? I really completely need to see this film. Soon.) as Duncan, and Richard Ridings (Silas in "Highlander," but also seen in such things as The Brothers Grimm or Joan of Arc) as one of the witches.
Which, let's talk about them. They're obviously not witches per se, if Richard Ridings is playing one of them. Instead, they're binmen. Very, very odd binmen. And it works. It works rather awfully well. As well as Billy (Banquo) looking for them and only finding the normal type of binmen, while Joe (Macbeth) manages to find them. It's a very nice compromise between the all-out supernatural of the original witches, and the no-nonsense, no-prophecy deal they could have chosen to go for if they wanted realism. But no, instead we get those incredibly odd binmen who speak oddly (very nice adaptation of the... what was it, trochaic tetrameters? that Shakespeare had them use to distinguish them even in their speech) and seem to know the future. I use "seem to" because the question still stands in this adaptation: do they really know the future, or did they just make sure that the future they wanted was going to enfold, by telling Joe and planting this seed of "it could be mine" in him? (On a more practical note, I really need to watch it again, because their accent sometimes makes it hard to understand them for poor old French me.)
As for Duncan. Well. I was rather annoyed, because I could see why they hated him. In the original play, I never found this feeling that Duncan was such a... well, an arsehole. Here, though? Completely. Even though the "in another life" bit was great, absolutely brilliant. Anyway, I can see why they did it, they wanted to show that yes, there was hate, to make the murder more easily believable, the fact that Joe would do it. But I think it actually detracts from the essence of the play, this descent into pure evil by Macbeth.
Which reminds me. They did not use the "is this a dagger..." line, which I think was a good call, really, not to make him go crazy that early on because in a modern adaptation, it wouldn't have worked. Besides, they were able to find the most compelling of images to replace it with. Macbeth, standing at the bottom of those stairs with this knife in his hand, and the first step he takes feels so momentous. All the more so that he's going to be going up those stairs to kill Duncan, like he believes it will bring him up in life, when really it's only gonna bear him down.
As far as images go, there is also this amazing shot where Joe is sitting at the foot of the bed, and Ella (Lady Macbeth) is lying on it, on her back, with her head upside down next to Joe's. It's such a brilliant shot, and it says so much about the two of them, like the yin and yang, and how they just seem to rotate together. Always together, until they're not anymore.
Loved Joe's reactions to the news of her death. "Nothing. I feel nothing." Spelled out, and worth all the world's "tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow." Was slightly disappointed in said death scene, however, not because of Keeley's performance - she was amazing - but because I was hoping for a bit of a quote from the sleepwalking scene, which I adore. She also was amazing in the scene where she explained about the baby. Such a tragic figure, that woman.
Adored the Joe/Billy (Macbeth/Banquo) interaction. You could really feel the bonds between the two of them, which made Macbeth's decision all the worse. The way he kissed him, one last time, like Judas. Man. Also, loved the last image, Malcolm being completely unsettled by this kid, and the feeling of doom, of "fate still in the works," so powerful, so oppressive, that child.
Also, obviously, recurrent use of hand-washing. I have yet to decide whether they overdid it or not, it is such a key image in the play, after all. I'll have to watch it again.
What they did a great job on, though, was setting up what the restaurant was becoming under a gradually more and more psychotic Macbeth's rule. I always felt that wasn't shown as much as it should in the play - lots of talks about the way nature is fucking up because order has been destroyed, sure, but it doesn't beat Joe suggesting that Billy lick the sweat off of Thingiebob's forehead in a fit of "I'm the boss!" That "mine is the only voice in this kitchen!"? God, James. Such an amazing actor.
So, really, why am I disappointed? I'm not really, I think. Or maybe I'll never be pleased with any adaptation of Macbeth, because I've studied the play too much for that. Maybe it'll always fall short. I don't know. Because this truly wasn't bad. It wasn't. And the actors are amazing, all of them.
Ah, one of my favourite quotes, it's quote-sharing moment: "I am in blood stepped in so far that should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o'er." But no, I didn't expect it to be in the script.
And in the end, the binmen rock.
The Taming of the Shrew
Yeah, see, on the whole? Not so much. I didn't believe in this Katherine. I actually think that Ten Things I Hate About You had a better script than this, at least as far as Kate is concerned. The British can be amazingly subtle in the way they portray things, but sometimes they are so awfully gaudy and loud and over the top. Shirly Henderson I liked in Intermission, but she annoys me in the HP movies (though considering who she plays - that would be Moaning Myrtle - being annoying means she's doing a good job of it) and I definitely did not like her here. She overacts it, and the character of Kate is completely 1) incredible, as in really, who in their right mind would vote for her? 2) everything but endearing or attractive, I actually wanted Petruchio to tame her well and good, christ.
Which brings me to the matter of Petruchio. Rufus Sewell. No need to say more, you might think? But one can never rant enough about Rufus Sewell. Especially when Petruchio was written just as outrageously loud as Kate, this eccentric member of the English nobility, but he managed to sell it, and make me care. Which is the thing, with me. You have to make me care. Make me care, and I become a ridiculously indulgent audience on some things. And Rufus, oh how he makes me care. There's his voice, and the way he carries himself, and he just sold this over-the-top character to me.
I know Petruchio and Kate both were over-the-top in the comedy to start with. I don't dispute that. And I respect the fact that they wanted to keep it this way in this adaptation, it's very honourable. Or something. Anyway, I truly respect that, I do. I just... In Ten Things, they made more realistic, in that "awfully pretty and old-looking high-schoolers" sort of way. Here, well, I'm gonna repeat myself, but I didn't believe in Kate.
Well, not until she started being tamed. That's when she touched me. In her distress, instead of anger. In her submission. Rufus managed to pull off the most outrageous moments (and what a joy it was), but I didn't truly begin to appreciate this film until that couple actually started to get on. The last scene I love. Because they've changed the focus, or maybe I didn't remember it in the original play. I should reread it. Because, well, in modern times it's rather hard to adapt this play, because Kate ends up ready to do Petruchio's bidding and that's a rather demeaning conclusion for all women. But not only does she remain that headstrong politician (the one I personally can't believe in, but it still stands for her individuality), there is also that last scene, where she points out that he would do the same for her, that this is the way they work, expecting nothing of each other, asking nothing of each other, that they aren't ready to do or give. Which is the idealised love story, really, inexistant because nobody clicks that well. But still, I rather liked that bit. And she's so tiny, next to him on that armchair. They truly make a good couple, when she isn't busy overdoing the rage factor.
Also, kudos to Jaime Murray in the role of Bianca. She's incredibly beautiful, I find, and have since I discovered her in Hustle. (I'm really wondering whether I shouldn't buy Hustle, actually).
Lines from the original play? Petruchio's first "kiss me Kate" didn't really go over, I found, but her response to it was brilliant. Ah, that scene in the lift. Rufus is such a good actor.
So, in the end: a bit overdone, and a rather shifty morale, but it is a Shakespearean comedy, and in that it stands to reason that it should be thus. I'll not carry it in my heart forever and ever after, but Rufus does as good a job as ever - and manages to pull off a certain something which, in itself, is quite worth seeing the film. Heh.
Much Ado About Nothing
Maybe my favourite Shakespearean comedy, because I adore witty banter and Beatrice is an incredibly strong female character that is not demeaned at any point. And Emma and Kenneth did an awesome job. So, honestly. Sarah Parish and Damien Lewis were nowhere near dear Emma and Kenneth, but then again I fell in love with that film back when I first saw it. It was my second Shakespeare adaptation, after Romeo + Juliet, and my first brush with Brannagh, and I loved Thompson, and I squeed at Robert Sean Leonard due to Dead Poets' Society, and I adored Keanu Reeves as John the Bastard. So maybe it's a bit harsh to compare this one to Brannagh's.
Now, let's see. Sarah Parish did make a lovely strong-yet-vulnerable Beatrice, and I enjoyed her character as much as ever. Damian Lewis's Benedick, that said, was less endearing than I usually find the poor man. He played the not-quite-a-loser very well, but eventually did become very endearing by the stage he convinced himself/realised he loved her. There is a lovely scene using a Shakespeare sonnet (116, obviously, as it seems that the world only knows three sonnets: 116 - let me not to the marriage of true minds, 18 - shall i compare thee, and 130 - my mistress' eyes), which speaks of so much tension and yet results in no kiss. Absolutely lovely.
Billie Piper was as blah as you can expect Hero to be. Much as I've learned to love her as Rose (think Doctor Who, people), well, this hasn't exactly convinced me that she is a good actress. But really, she's Hero. Hero is the blandest part on earth, although it was good to see her turn down Claude at the end. Claude, what about Claude. Well, as ever, I only start liking Claude when he shows his cruel side, when he humiliates her in front of the altar. Because only then does he become interesting. (That said, loved the accent.)
What else? Don, ah Don. They made him much more likeable than the original John, I find, which slightly put me off. I always loved hating John. Don I just felt sorry for, truly. But that guy's a good actor.
The whole transposition to a news show worked very well, I found. The setting was perfect for such a story. As far as using original lines is concerned, I can't rightly remember anything that struck me, either as good or bad. The banter was very well worked out, in any case, which is what matters most.
And for the record? The beard changes a lot. Oh my. I almost got a David Brent feel from him with the beard. Whereas, you know, Damian Lewis. (Who looks so much younger in Band of Brothers, which first episode I've just rewatched!)
A Midsummer Night's Dream
I fully expected to dislike this. I couldn't wrap my mind around how to adapt this one in modern times, and the prospect of Bottom? Well. Yeah. But Bottom actually got a few laughs out of me, notably with the David Brent impersonation that everybody was laughing over, really. Ah, David David David.
That said. I did not expect the actors, nor the script. Bill Paterson, who I loved in "Sea of Souls," and who made an extremely interesting Theo, paired off with Imelda Staunton, who was expectedly brilliant as Polly. The care the script showed both their characters, and how much it seemed to dig into their couple, that was brilliant. To make it not be about them from the start, but to show the process that led to his suggestion that they renew their vows instead. Lovely.
Oberon and Titania. Titania was... all right. She was good, really, she just didn't strike me. Oberon, now. Oh, Oberon. At first I thought I knew him from Casanova (Jack's manservant-slash-best-friend), but in fact it's from Snatch and Born With Two Mothers. And he is amazing. Again, the way the script sculpted those faerie sovereigns' marriage problems was lovely. And they were portrayed so beautifully by those two actors - mostly Lennie James, I'll admit, I'm biased. And of course, who else to pull off the few original lines? And they said them so well. Hmm.
Oh, and Lennie James wore that long coat thing that just made me want to broaden the fandoms in which to write coat!porn, for those who know what I'm talking about.
Now, to the subject of Puck. Puck, you have to get Puck right for me to like Midsummer. And did they. The accent, to start with. I love Lennie James' accent very badly, and Mr. Dean Lennox Kelly's just as much. Lennox Kelly, who happens to be brother to a certain Craig of the same last name, the very one that might have twixou suddenly cry out "Viiiiince" if she's reading this. And he was in "Shameless" as well, which is one more reason I really should have watched that series when I could. And back to the subject of Puck - I loved him. He was so out of it, and so mischievous, and so much about having fun, and he cared about humans but then didn't, really, only in his very own special way, and mostly he cared about himself, and Dean Lennox Kelly was brilliant. Puck is such a trickster.
Now, I can't say that I didn't feel the acute lack of Puck's original epilogue, at the end, but it is unfortunately true that suddenly switching to iambic pentameters wouldn't really have fit the character. But, I still felt the lack. Those lines are so much of what Midsummer's about, and the rewriting simply didn't hold the right poetry in it.
Now, Zoe Tapper was ever so enjoyable in Stage Beauty (she was Nell), but here? Hermia can sap the interest out of any actress. Hermia and Xander (Frederic in North and South! and Richard Rivers in Fingersmith, whoever that was, I can't say that I really enjoyed that series very much at all) I cared very little about. While I was originally put off by how much more sympathetic they were making James (Demetrius), I understand it and I felt more for him than for the other two. But it's really Helena who I think they did a superb job with. She was much less of a pushover than she originally is, and I really enjoyed the actress. Who seems to have done next to nothing outside of this, just a few guest appearances here and there. Anyway.
The whole thing with the mechanicals was funny enough, and even Bottom was a good one. The performance itself was rather enjoyable, I found, what with the faeries' interference.
I very much like the script, truth be told. How they didn't simply focus on the new lovers but also on the old marital troubles, their takes on faeries and their motivations, the very Shakespearean themes of nature reflecting the royal couple's fallout or - was it Puck's line? - "all this nature. it's not natural." The forray into the wilderness, almost craziness, Theo being seen talking to thin air, and the feeling of love permeating it all. I think what I love most is that it keeps all of the traits of a Shakespearean comedy, set in modern times, but it doesn't idealise love, or focus on newborn happy shiny love. Their take on love feels much more real, precisely because there is much lingering on and digging into the strife within already existing couples.
Ah, now I feel like watching it again.
Macbeth
I expected so much from Macbeth. It is, I think, why I feel slightly disappointed.
Don't get me wrong, the acting was brilliant. James McAvoy was as good as ever - and occasionally dressed in leather pants, I think they were trying to see if I would spontaneously self-combust, between that and the Scottish accent - and Keeley Hawes was amazing in her steady descent from being a neat freak to guilt-induced madness. We did not see enough of Macduff, really, but Richard Armitage still managed to break me, and he didn't even need a word. It was a shot from far away, and he just collapsed to the floor with grief, and just the movement itself... watch out for this actor, people. He ought to make it, and big.
The two surprises, actor-wise, were Vincent Regan ("Rescue Me" (UK) and "Hustle"... wait, he was in B. Monkey too? I really completely need to see this film. Soon.) as Duncan, and Richard Ridings (Silas in "Highlander," but also seen in such things as The Brothers Grimm or Joan of Arc) as one of the witches.
Which, let's talk about them. They're obviously not witches per se, if Richard Ridings is playing one of them. Instead, they're binmen. Very, very odd binmen. And it works. It works rather awfully well. As well as Billy (Banquo) looking for them and only finding the normal type of binmen, while Joe (Macbeth) manages to find them. It's a very nice compromise between the all-out supernatural of the original witches, and the no-nonsense, no-prophecy deal they could have chosen to go for if they wanted realism. But no, instead we get those incredibly odd binmen who speak oddly (very nice adaptation of the... what was it, trochaic tetrameters? that Shakespeare had them use to distinguish them even in their speech) and seem to know the future. I use "seem to" because the question still stands in this adaptation: do they really know the future, or did they just make sure that the future they wanted was going to enfold, by telling Joe and planting this seed of "it could be mine" in him? (On a more practical note, I really need to watch it again, because their accent sometimes makes it hard to understand them for poor old French me.)
As for Duncan. Well. I was rather annoyed, because I could see why they hated him. In the original play, I never found this feeling that Duncan was such a... well, an arsehole. Here, though? Completely. Even though the "in another life" bit was great, absolutely brilliant. Anyway, I can see why they did it, they wanted to show that yes, there was hate, to make the murder more easily believable, the fact that Joe would do it. But I think it actually detracts from the essence of the play, this descent into pure evil by Macbeth.
Which reminds me. They did not use the "is this a dagger..." line, which I think was a good call, really, not to make him go crazy that early on because in a modern adaptation, it wouldn't have worked. Besides, they were able to find the most compelling of images to replace it with. Macbeth, standing at the bottom of those stairs with this knife in his hand, and the first step he takes feels so momentous. All the more so that he's going to be going up those stairs to kill Duncan, like he believes it will bring him up in life, when really it's only gonna bear him down.
As far as images go, there is also this amazing shot where Joe is sitting at the foot of the bed, and Ella (Lady Macbeth) is lying on it, on her back, with her head upside down next to Joe's. It's such a brilliant shot, and it says so much about the two of them, like the yin and yang, and how they just seem to rotate together. Always together, until they're not anymore.
Loved Joe's reactions to the news of her death. "Nothing. I feel nothing." Spelled out, and worth all the world's "tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow." Was slightly disappointed in said death scene, however, not because of Keeley's performance - she was amazing - but because I was hoping for a bit of a quote from the sleepwalking scene, which I adore. She also was amazing in the scene where she explained about the baby. Such a tragic figure, that woman.
Adored the Joe/Billy (Macbeth/Banquo) interaction. You could really feel the bonds between the two of them, which made Macbeth's decision all the worse. The way he kissed him, one last time, like Judas. Man. Also, loved the last image, Malcolm being completely unsettled by this kid, and the feeling of doom, of "fate still in the works," so powerful, so oppressive, that child.
Also, obviously, recurrent use of hand-washing. I have yet to decide whether they overdid it or not, it is such a key image in the play, after all. I'll have to watch it again.
What they did a great job on, though, was setting up what the restaurant was becoming under a gradually more and more psychotic Macbeth's rule. I always felt that wasn't shown as much as it should in the play - lots of talks about the way nature is fucking up because order has been destroyed, sure, but it doesn't beat Joe suggesting that Billy lick the sweat off of Thingiebob's forehead in a fit of "I'm the boss!" That "mine is the only voice in this kitchen!"? God, James. Such an amazing actor.
So, really, why am I disappointed? I'm not really, I think. Or maybe I'll never be pleased with any adaptation of Macbeth, because I've studied the play too much for that. Maybe it'll always fall short. I don't know. Because this truly wasn't bad. It wasn't. And the actors are amazing, all of them.
Ah, one of my favourite quotes, it's quote-sharing moment: "I am in blood stepped in so far that should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o'er." But no, I didn't expect it to be in the script.
And in the end, the binmen rock.