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Reacting to Different Macbeth Adaptations (Film Watch-along) (Patreon)

Published:
2022-03-12 15:22:32
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

It's time for another fun reaction video.

Today we're appreciating different interpretations of Macbeth together.

We have the following on the menu: Michael Fassbender (dir. Kurzel), Sir Patrick Stewart, Sir Ian McKellen, Denzel Washington (dir. Coen), John Finch (dir. Polanski), Kate Fleetwood, Judi Dench, and a digestif comprised of Quentin Tarantino and James McAvoy.

Video Timestamps:

  • 0:00 Michael Fassbender/Kurzel, "Full of scorpions is my mind"
  • 4:00 Denzel Washington/Cohen, "Tomorrow..."
  • 7:45 Sir Patrick Stewart, "Tomorrow..."
  • 12:00 Sir Ian McKellen, "Tomorrow..."
  • 17:30 Michael Fassbender, "Life's but a walking shadow"
  • 20:00 Sir Ian McKellen, "Is this a dagger...?"
  • 22:35 Joel Cohen's three weird sisters
  • 24:00 Roman Polanski, Banquo's Ghost 
  • 27:50 Kate Fleetwood, Lady Macbeth, "Unsex me here"
  • 31:00 Judi Dench, Lady Macbeth, "Unsex me here"
  • 34:45 Marion Cotillard, Lady Macbeth, "Out, damn spot"
  • 37:47 Quentin Tarantino & James McAvoy 

Questions for You:

1) Did any of the versions we enjoyed together do it for you? If so, why?

2) Did you see things differently in the theatre of your mind?

3) What other Macbeths and Lady Macbeths would you recommend we watch?

Thank you for sharing your favourite passages, and please feel free to add any more you would like us to appreciate. We'll be taking a vote of our favourite tragedy thus far very soon!

Happy Macbething, everybody!

Files

Previews only

Reacting to Different Macbeth Adaptations (Film Watch-along)

0:00 Michael Fassbender/Kurzel, "Full of scorpions is my mind" 4:00 Denzel Washington/Cohen, "Tomorrow..." 7:45 Sir Patrick Stewart, "Tomorrow..." 12:00 Sir Ian McKellen, "Tomorrow..." 17:30 Michael Fassbender, "Life's but a walking shadow" 20:00 Sir Ian McKellen, "Is this a dagger...?" 22:35 Joel Cohen's three weird sisters 24:00 Roman Polanski, Banquo's Ghost 27:50 Kate Fleetwood, Lady Macbeth, "Unsex me here" 31:00 Judi Dench, Lady Macbeth, "Unsex me here" 34:45 Marion Cotillard, Lady Macbeth, "Out, damn spot" 37:47 Quentin Tarantino & James McAvoy

Comments

Emma Yap

Coming very late to this, but I LOVED this video. These reaction videos are my favourite thing to watch - I really like seeing how passionately Ben reacts to performances that he likes! I totally agree that Shakespeare would be writing TV drama if he were alive now - I've often wondered what classics he would create. My favourite adaptation was definitely Kurzel's Macbeth - Fassbender is magnificent. I think my favourite individual performance is Ian McKellen's. I like how you can feel the closeness between him and his wife at the beginning of the play, and you really sense that she is distressed by the distance that opens up between them as the play progresses. I agree that most of Lady Macbeth's words at the beginning of the play, about dashing out her baby's brains etc., are just bravado - and so I'm generally not a fan of performances which show her as unequivocally evil. I felt like the actress in the Patrick Stewart adaptation was leaning in that direction, and it put me off a bit. I loved the look of the Denzel adaptation, but I just didn't feel Denzel's performance was strong enough. I didn't get strong enough of a sense of the deep changes he was undergoing as he progresses towards evil, and his acting just didn't feel as psychologically deep as Fassbender's for example. I really enjoyed reading AC Bradley's essay on Macbeth - I like how he describes how conflicted Macbeth is and how he's constantly fighting his conscience which manifests itself in his feverish imagination. Reading this unlocked something very profound and deep within my own self which it's impossible to put into words. Macbeth and LM clearly didn't know themselves very well, and it made me think about how difficult it is to really understand yourself, how sometimes your deepest instincts manifest themselves in images, and how you have to learn to read them to be able to really understand yourself. Something which I really struggle to do!

Tim Trippel

I have to give the "Tomorrow" soliloquy to Patrick Steward, although I totally agree that the Michael Fassbender version is the best overall. A fun interpretation based on the play but not with Shakespeare's language is "Scotland, PA" Christopher Walken plays a great Macduff.