Macbeth
1983: Jack Gold

I’m generally a big supporter of the BBC Shakespeare Plays series: despite the relatively low cinematic production values, they often contain some of the best actors doing some of their best work. This one, however, just doesn’t fly. I was all the more disappointed about that, since I’d seen (and liked) Williamson as Macbeth in Stratford with the RSC in 1974. I’m not sure whether it was the production or the performances that impressed me most, but I was somewhat awed by the whole thing, and I still think there were visionary moments.

This film adaptation, however, features Williamson gasping out his lines in an oddly hyperventilated way; he eventually becomes a parody of himself. I can only assume that this is an artifact of Gold’s direction, since Williamson doesn’t always act that way.

Buy the complete BBC Shakespeare Plays at Amazon. Note that this will require a Region 2 player or a region-free player: it will not play on most normal American DVD players. Nevertheless, the price is so reasonable that even with a region-free player thrown into the deal, you’ll come out ahead.

Buy the BBC Shakespeare Plays Tragedies Giftbox at Amazon. Unlike the complete series, this is in a North American video format, and it includes five plays: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, and Othello.

Buy the complete set of the BBC Shakespeare Plays or individual plays (including this one) in Region 1 format direct from Ambrose Video.