Macbeth – the tragedy of a soul
"Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair"
The reason to do a Macbeth short-film was because I started thinking the tragedy in terms of iconic images.
I've decided that the Shakespeare’s original text and length, due to the movement of dialogue, should be compromised to reduce the four acts down to few minutes, in order to easily allow the audience to follow Macbeth to his inevitable downfall.
The Witches opening ‘Fair is foul, and foul is fair’ (a confusing paradox) and they ‘cannot be ill, cannot be good’ (another confusing paradox) mark a path to Macbeth’s chaotic feast.
If it sounds a little inaccessible, it's actually anything but. The visual language I've chosen, in fact, is meant to follow some of the imagery shown throughout the play:
Ambition, Blood, Chaos, The Crown, Darkness, Dreams, Prophecy, Storm, Water.
Yes, water. I wanted to stress this concept: the healing powers of water and the pity of tears are not for the damned, and the recurrent water imagery underlines this.
Events unfold trough a bacchanalia of narration: gory visions, voiceovers of an ancient past, shadowy primeval fears and bloody murders. The usurped King and Queen are actually victims being controlled by the deepest and darkest Supernatural forces. However, their malicious awakening will cast a gloomy shadow over them putting an end to their haughty and yet mortal life.
Macbeth has been called a study in evil, and this play raises the questions of the nature of evil.
Does everyone have the capacity to commit atrocities?
The shooting took place in a basement of a very populated building - it was the maze in Macbeth's mind.
The language spoken is in English and Turkish - I found very effective that the witches voices is echoing in the background in Turkish. For this reason, I'm very grateful to the actress Yasemin Sannino's intense interpretation and for her whispers and engaging voiceovers. And I'm also very thankful to Achille Brugnini's performance.
Maurizio Morucci
