"The Tragedy of Macbeth" (simply abbreviated "Macbeth" on most video covers) is a violent retelling of Shakespeare's classic story. Macbeth (Jon Finch), the Scottish Thane of Glamis, conspires with his wife Lady Macbeth (and three strange witches) to kill the widely-respected King Duncan. After committing the awful deed, Macbeth begins hallucinating, hearing strange omens of death and haunting words; his wife similarly becomes worried with Macbeth's bloodlust, and Duncan's son convinces himself that Macbeth was involved in some way with the killing.

"Macbeth" is a true tragedy, and chances are you already know a great deal about it as it seems to be a high school requirement that it be read by all students. The remarkable thing about Roman Polanski's movie is that it is not only a painfully accurate retelling of William Shakespeare's story, but doesn't flinch when it comes to violence.

According to IMDb's trivia section (and I can't honestly say how reliable this information is, mind you), Polanski included very violent scenes (such as Duncan's death, which is NOT detailed in the original text) because the movie was filmed around the same time period of Sharon Tate's brutal murder, and it was Polanski's way of venting stress and anger. One must imagine what happens to Duncan in this film is what Polanski wanted to do to the Manson family members (and you certainly can't blame him).

As such, knowing the circumstances of what brought about the violence, it is more forgivable and certainly maintains a haunting element - some kind of historical relic, just in knowing that it was filmed during such a terrible time in Polanski's life.

The movie as a whole is wonderful. As I mentioned above, its accuracy (in comparison to Shakespeare's text) is spot-on -- entire scenes of dialogue are taken directly from the source, and even the strong violence lends the film a more realistic nature.

Overall, it's an epic and (sadly) somewhat forgotten Shakespeare epic. If you enjoyed "Hamlet" or "Romeo and Juliet" (the '60s version) you'll certainly find this engaging, and - at times - rather shocking, too.

Dispensing with the pretty frocks and endless banter which fill up just about all film adaptations of the Bard's work, Roman Polanski brings us his own unique variation of the tale, and one of the strongest 15-certificate films currently available. It's an adult tale. Polanski looks beyond the glossy veneer so often offered to viewers with period pieces and gets to grips with the harsh reality of Shakespeare's most tragic play. There are no orchards or beautiful forests here: Scotland is cold, windy, and exceptionally bleak. The film is packed with violent incident, whether it be murder or rape, and even though the running time is two and a quarter hours, it never drags. There's always something horrible happening to somebody, and you know that soon enough something nasty will happen again. It certainly does.

The acting is uniformly excellent. You can't fault the script - after all, one of history's most famous playwrights wrote it. Jon Finch gives a tour-de-force performance in the title role, bringing warmth, pathos, and a surprisingly realistic depiction of madness as the tormented character. Even though he's a ruthless, murderous person, you still have to feel sorry for him by the end of the film, when everybody double-crosses and deserts him. The final scenes reminded me of Pacino at the end of SCARFACE, as Finch loses touch with reality and sets about killing as many people as possible, seemingly indestructible. Francesca Annis gives her best performance in the small yet important role of Lady Macbeth, the person who eggs her husband on to murder Duncan and yet cracks up and goes mad. Her child-like actions at the end of the film and her eventual suicide are truly tragic. The supporting cast all do well, apart from a few misplaced child actors, like Keith Chegwin, showing their ugly heads. Martin Shaw gives us a compassionate and friendly Banquo who can do no wrong.

Shakespeare easily has the capacity to become boring, especially when at school you have to study it for months on end. I should know, I've studied a number of his texts, one of them this. But modern viewers who think this might be a boring film would be sorely mistaken. I remember watching it with my English class, turning out the lights and sitting back, half-asleep in our chairs, and then sitting up suddenly as Macbeth slams his ball and chain repeatedly into an enemy's back, leaving a bloody stain (complete with sickening thud noises). From then on the violence never stops.

It's a very gory film, not for the faint-hearted, and there is no build-up to the violence either. No dramatic music or sudden close up cutting, the gore is just dropped in the film suddenly and shockingly, just when you least expect it. One man is hanged, his neck snapping like a twig, while our friend Banquo gets an axe buried in his back (like Vincent Price at the end of WITCHFINDER GENERAL) before being unceremoniously kicked into a lake. Even a young boy is stabbed in the back unflinchingly. All the best violence is saved until the climax of the film, where the blood sprays everywhere. It's not all physical horror though, and a lot of the sustained scenes are masterpieces of psychological shocks. Especially when Banquo arrives in the dinner hall to distress his host, or the actual murder of Duncan. It's here that Finch and Annis come into their own, conveying hopelessness and despair like nobody else. You might well notice it's a Playboy production, and sure enough there are plenty of naked women (although most of these women are old horrible witches, funnily enough). My favourite Shakespeare adaptation of all time.