Macbeth on acid.




M: Saw you the weird sisters?

B: No, my lord. The earth hath bubbles as the water has and these are of them. Whither are they vanish'd?

M: Into thin air. What seemed corporal, melted like breath into the wind. Would they had stay'd.

B: Were such things here as we do speak about? Or have you eaten the insane root that takes the reason prisoner?


I art thankful to my college for having included Macbeth in the syllabus - Having not watched any other film adaptation, Macbeth 2006 was a very rewarding experience.

Director Geoffrey Wright(Romper Stomper) sets Shakespeare's Macbeth in the Melbourne underworld.
King Duncan is the bossman druglord.
Gun toting metrosexual gangster Macbeth drives an Aston Martin and wears designer suits. At home he's got a Bose Radio CD, he watches his murder spree splashed all over the 6'oclock news on a Plasma TV..even has an iPod dock.
And a hawt Lady Macbeth snorts coke.

Sweet huh? Yes, almost. Well, here's the thing. It's not as cool as it could have been, but it's still worth a watch. Even though you know the plot, much fun is had when scenes turn out a lot cooler than you imagined.
I know I know, its all going to sound weird at first but it''ll be fine after you get past a hoodlum utter a line like "say to my father the knowledge of the broil as thou didst leave it".


The ebook would sure come in handy although the dialogue is not entirely incomprehensible. Much of the dialogues have been snipped or tweaked a bit to suit the screenplay.
Some characters and scenes are missing too..like there's no Donaldbain, no porter but all that don't take away much from the movie. Gangmembers speaking Shakespearean english for more than 2 sentences continuously ought to be majorly campy, right? Right. However, despite weak performances by some of the cast, overall it is somewhat balanced by the powerful script and mad visuals. The soliloquies are there and they work. So do the kinky witches, Lady Macbeth, Duncan's murder and the ghost of Banquo. The slo-mo gun battle in the ending is lame but the actual ending is a nice touch.

It would be foolish to judge this film using unscientific iMDB ratings for we do have a winner here folks. The film features very good(sometimes over the top) production values, sharp editing, brutal violence & gratuitous nudity. Helps much if you're stoned. Ok seriously, trust me, this is a very creative valiant effort and there's parts of it that are good enough for repeated viewings. Radiohead's music and capable A-list actors would've done wonders with this script.

Shakespearean purists are going to be pissed - This movie is not for them so nobody giveth a rat's posterior about what they think.