Macbeth 1971 (Hugh Hefner Style)

I was quite surprised to see that Hugh Hefner produced this version of Macbeth (and I admit when I saw how many naked folks were in the movie I had some less than generous thoughts about his influence).  But I have since discovered that all of the nudes in this movie were the directors' idea, Roman Polanski's rather than Hefner's.

For instance getting an eyeful of a cave packed with naked hags was far from sexy and added that extra oopmh to how truly repugnant the weird sisters were.

Lord and Lady Macbeth were beautiful, and everything I would expect in a young, ambitious, and happening couple.  In the photo above you can see Lady M. getting her man to screw his courage to the sticking place. 

...and then afterwards as they both begin to unravel...

 I just love how these actors played their roles!  The murder scene was obscene (as murder should be), there was no escaping the violence and the reprehensible act of betrayal that Macbeth performed (it will be many months before I can screw my own courage to watch another version of this play!).

 

There just the one crown which was not dorky at all!

If the murder of Duncan wasn't gory enough have a gander at poor Banquo who is haunting his king at dinner...

After watching so much violence and experiencing such revulsion at so many graphic scenes in this movie, the beheading of Macbeth was comic relief at the end (yeah...I laughed out loud and hard for a minute or two).  

This is, so far, my favourite version of the movie.  The costumes were gorgeous (and appropriate!), I really liked the cast.  The scenery was beyond beautiful.  

Macbeth (1948)

 

Made on a shoestring budget and with 23 days of filming (one of those days budgeted for re-takes), this film didn't do too badly, despite it's many restrictions.  Welles (directing as well as acting) was criticized for his juggling of lines in scenes, removing certain characters and putting in new ones.  An occurrence which is almost commonplace today with book and play adaptations.

Essentially he used the most important lines (often in a different order which was a little confusing at first after just re-reading the play in preparation for viewing the films), but it worked!  All the well-known lines are in there, just not as you might expect them to be used.

When Macbeth rode up with Banquo I got the giggles, I really thought that he looked like Ghenghis Khan (the hat was really surprising!).  

There was plenty of fur, leather and plaid (loads of plaid!), for the cast's wardrobe (I tried not to be too judgmental, considering that I am not familiar with the Scottish costume of that period).  I didn't know at the time that Welles really didn't have the funds to be as authentic as he would have liked to be.  Thankfully the barbarian hat was a no-show in later scenes, but was substituted by even funnier hats... Welles himself said he felt like the Statue of Liberty with this one...

Welles had a very expressive face, and played the part of Macbeth with passion ( I think he even looked a little sexy at one point which is saying a lot because I never thought of him as attractive).  Bagpipes were used in a way I have never seen before, to add a dimension of tension and stress (usually where you would expect the evil-sounding violins to be playing) and was, I think, very effective. 

One of my favourite shots was Macbeth riding quickly up to his castle, jumping off his horse and giving the wife a good snog...  I think they got lucky in getting Jeanette Nolan as Lady Macbeth ( I shudder to think of Vivien Leigh in the role, whom they had originally thought of offering the part to).  They have a little chemistry as you can see.  I think Nolan rocked it as Lady Macbeth!

All of these scenes were played out in cavern-like structures, lots of crags and dark places, which in the black and white makes it look quite barbaric. The camera tricks and angles that Welles became well known for in other films, helped to produce this sense of inevitable insanity, loss of control and destruction.  This just can't go well! This is the look on Macbeth's face when he see's the ghost of Banquo at his table.

 Just one more shot of funny hats...

Everyone spoke with a Scottish burr which was almost as funny as the hats!

One amusing piece of trivia...

This scene (MacDuff's army getting ready to charge) was particularly fierce and had a "vivid urgency" to it because noon break was just announced and everyone was hungry!

After everything is said and done, the key players all mostly dead the movie concludes with this creepy little scene of the witches observing their handiwork and uttering

                                                 "Peace, the Charm's wound up"

...which gave me the shivers!

My Birthday Present

Last year DH made a bookshelf for me for my birthday.  It could not have been a more perfect gift... homemade and exactly tailored to my specifications.  There was a corner of the living room that was empty, small and perfect to tuck a bookshelf in to (if I could find one that would).  My extensive searches where quite disappointing, and there was only one find that was not only inadequate, but also incredibly expensive for such a tall, narrow shelf.  That is when DH became inspired.  He designed for me the perfect unit to fit in that tiny corner.

I then decided which collection I was going to put on the shelves, choosing my wee collection of early English literature up to the nineteenth century.  We then measured the widest book I had and chose a width for the shelf (no wasted space here!).

What is thrilling about this shelf is that DH only used materials that we already had on hand.  Old pieces of wood that I had bought many years ago to make temporary shelves for my sewing room, etc., which DH sanded down to their original appearance.  It was a very satisfying experience for DH, making something from scratch, that I absolutely love, clearing away some very old clutter, and using up resources we already had.  So as you can see, I have a lovely chocolate brown shelf, which I look at every morning from my reading chair.  As you can see, it is a daily sight which always makes me smile.

This is just a picture I took at the beginning when I first put my books on the shelf.  I have since then been working on the best configuration and building up my collection of certain works (now that I can see them in front of me).  At the top are my plays by Marlowe and Shakespeare and this particular shelf has become one of my projects for the time being as I build up my collection (I am already looking to change the arrangement of the books on the shelves to accommodate more of my plays and DVD's as I get them).  

It's fun to indulge.  I am presently looking at the play Macbeth (with a new version out on DVD last year featuring Michael Fassbender).  I plan on watching all of the versions I can get my hands on to decide which I would like to join my fledgling collection on my lovely new shelf.  I'll let you know how that works out!

Of Mice and Men

 

   Since I did not study this book in highschool it was shocking to realise just how much this particular book has invaded popular culture.  It immediately occurred to me on reading certain lines spoken by one of the protagonists, Lennie,  that Looney Tunes had parodied this character and it was disturbing to realise that, because this story is so profoundly sad, that the folks at Warner Brothers thought it darkly amusing to feature this in a children’s cartoon.

I have always been reluctant to read Steinbeck.
Of Mice and Men was simply awful.  Well written, but about such an ugly topic.  I was impressed by Steinbeck’s imagery of the outdoors at the beginning and end of the book (it is curious that he did it that way instead of establishing scenarios throughout the story and changes of scenes).  It is almost as if he can see only beauty in nature and that humans are not worthy of the same effort.  The book was clearly written as something to be acted out in a play, and I can honestly say that I will not be attending any performances.  I was left feeling nauseated, sick at the ugliness of human nature which even Steinbeck’s descriptions of the scenery in the last act did nothing to cleanse from my heart.  
I hope that rest of his work is unlike in character to this one, but I suspect it will be.

The Importance of Being Earnest

What I thought meant one thing all of this time, the importance of being earnest, sincere, eager?...is actually a play (tee hee) on words.  Because it is all about being called Earnest.  An enjoyable half hour spent in my reading chair.  I have always loved reading plays because so much more is left up to your imagination.  Now I need to see if I can get my hands on the movie with Colin Firth!

Pygmalion

I have been putting off reading this particular play for a very long time.  I hated the movie My Fair Lady with Audrey Hepburn and Doctor Doolittle in it (sorry... I can't recall his name at this particular moment).  I hated how Liza just caved in at the end, cowed herself and came back to the professor...ugh! 
I haven't read any other pieces by Bernard Shaw but I have always wanted to simply because I had read somewhere that as well as being a great humanitarian, he was also a vegetarian.  
Take it from me, don't judge this play by movie standards, get a copy from somewhere and enjoy it as it was meant to be enjoyed.  I think you will really like it.  I did.

Macbeth

I'm not ashamed to admit that I haven't read them all.  While I think that Will is magic he can also be really bloody gruesome, so I have managed to avoid this particular play all this time.
I could not put it down!  So gruesome and bloody, but fascinating and exciting all at the same time.  I knew so much of it already just because Shakespeare is already so firmly and inextricably entwined into our popular culture.  Almost every page was a recognition,  lines and people who are everywhere all of the time!  Lead on Macduff!  It was a rush.  I have found myself already applying what I have read to my own life situations (the one-liners not the bloody gruesome stuff!). 

Partnering my reading of Macbeth was this brilliant book written by a teacher from Stratford Ontario, who described her methods for teaching Shakespeare to kids in elementary school.  The poem she wrote describing the play and which she had her kids enact was amazing.  It looked like the kids just loved it!   That's right... a pack of bloodthirsty second and third graders, imagine that!

Living Dead in Dallas

 This is book two of the Southern Vampires series, and the continuing adventures of Sookie Stackhouse.  Things get a little more complicated for Sookie this time, but she handles it with her usual intelligence, spunk and aplomb (I loved the part where she just stuck it to Portia Bellefleur and never gave her a single inch).  
There are two plots (story a and story b) and I just love how Harris has woven them together to make a really good story.    After reading the first book (which I had taken out of the library after  DS#1's brilliant, lovely and  beautiful girlfriend recommended it to me), I promptly went and bought the first eight books (sold in a convenient eight pack on Amazon.ca), and rapidly ripped through them. I am really fond of Sookie and her world so I am most anxious to see what will ultimately happen. This time around I am keeping an eye out for the little things and trying not to miss something because I was too eager to find out what happened the first time.  I am savoring all the moments.
The over-all story doesn't progress too far, but lots of things happen to keep it lively and Harris has a real talent for telling a story and keeping you interested which I think is rare (there are many series I have attempted which have just become so incredibly boring or far-fetched after a few books and you can just see that the author has over-extended themselves and lost the plot).
As usual the television show True Blood blew this book all out of proportion in an extremely stupid and pointless way.  It reminds me of the (ahem) 'storyline' to a porn movie, where the writers just sit down together and brainstorm on how they can optimize the sex or depravity to the utmost, and the more boobs and butts the better!  I hate what they have done to Sam's character, and to make something bad even worse, they destroyed Sookie's house which is such an anchor in the books.  I know that people really enjoy the show, and even Charlaine Harris has nothing but good things to say about it, but I'm just really glad that I read the books initially because I would not have given them a second thought if it had been the show I had encountered first.

*Spoiler Alert*  I am going to keep a tally of how many times the girl gets beaten up.  It was twice in the first book, once in this book...  I am amazed at how often she gets hurt by people, and so far it has been because of her involvement with vampires.

On The Home Stretch

2013 signals the end of a fascinating story.  The Southern Vampire Series by Charlaine Harris  is coming to an end at book thirteen.  I have followed this story with interest and the characters are my absolute favorites, I love the main protagonist Sookie Stackhouse.    Usually I don't hold much truck with series (lets face it there are so many out there now and some of them are so long winded that they have lost my interest before completion...Wheel of Time anyone?), and  there are the series that will just not ever end! (I shrink in horror from those).

Sookie Stackhouse's story is a hard one, and I have been impressed (for the most part) with how she has dealt with adversity.  Harris wrote her characters very well, I have a strong sense of what it's like to be a well brought up southern woman, complete with good manners, a strong backbone, and a determination to present a certain front to the rest of the world which has it's own 'old world' kind of charm.  I have always liked a story that has presented a strong southern woman as I admire them immensely (Steel Magnolias and Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe).  I imagine that  Harris has inserted her own personal strength into her female characters, that makes them strong even after suffering as they have (and with a sense of humor too).  After reading all of her other books, and her blog, Harris impresses me with her  strength and intelligence. 

This next year I will be re-reading the whole series as part of my reading challenge for 2013 completeing them all in time for May 5th when the last Sookie Stackhouse story will be published.  I am a little sad to see her go, but at the same time it's a good thing that the story is ending (that line from the movie Fried Green Tomatoes "A lady always knows when to leave..." comes to mind).
I don't know how it will end, every book has been a surprise for me.  Sookie has had a few relationships which have caused her some pain (though she has always become stronger because of it), There's Bill who was her first lover, Sam who is her boss (he's on the list though they have never been together), Eric the Viking Vamp and the weretiger Quinn.   I know what I hope for, and it has actually been biasing what I have read so far this week.  I hope that Sookie will live happily ever after with Sam who can protect her, give her children, and grow old with her.  Not that these are his only good qualities, he has been in love with her for years, has supported her through all of her troubles, and consistently treated her with the greatest respect (and has always spoken his mind if he hasn't liked something she's done), which to me are the ingredients of a good marriage, and with the way that the last book Deadlocked ended, I am optimistic that Sam just might be Sookie's Happily Ever After.  Of course, Harris might have other ideas which is why this series has been so very good from start to almost finished.

I have just finished Dead Until Dark, my introduction to Sookie and her life in Bon Temps.  I have been thoroughly scrutinising every word because I don't plan on reading this series for a good long while and I want to savor every page.   There's interesting little tidbits everywhere which I have forgotten (or perhaps not noticed first time through because I am usually in a rush to find out what's happened), which incidentally support my Sam theories (it has been flavoring my opinions, but don't worry though... I know that Harris could easily go a whole 'nother way).

One influence that I do find rather annoying is the tv show.  I will state right now that I really don't like what they have done in True Blood.  This is not my picture of Sookie's life.   It is overdone, overblown and makes Sookie out to be a bit stupid and crass (which she certainly isn't), and the town of Bon Temps and the characters in it are over the top (waaaay over that top!).  I stopped watching it after the second season, realizing that the focus was on all of the bad stuff and the small stuff (like the sex etc.,).  And some of the characters from the book have had awful treatments and alterations which add an ugly bias of their own and take away from what has always been prevalent in Harris' books which is Sookie's tolerance and acceptance of everybody, no matter what type of person they are, whatever supernatural leaning or level of intelligence. Sadly, I have lost the picture in my mind of what I thought the characters used to look like  and the True Blood actors have imposed themselves in their place.  While I realize that certain story lines are impossible to put to screen, most of these embellishments are not necessary and frankly take away from what is, in my mind, the most important thing in the story, Sookie Stackhouse.

I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of the series and will try to contain my excitement until May.  No matter what Harris decides to do in the end, whichever way she decides to go, I know that I am just going to love it!