Friday, May 14, 2010

What if the Macbeth's were alive in '75?



First of all, allow me to apologize for the profanity. =)

I chose this clip from Billy Morrissette’s modernized Macbeth retelling, Scotland, PA, which stars James LeGros, Christopher Walken, and as the clip shows, the colorful Maura Tierney. I was able to catch a viewing of this underrated Sundance film a few years ago, and since then, I’ve had a hard time separating my love for Macbeth from this ridiculous movie. The scene here is fairly obvious; Pat McBeth (or Lady Macbeth to all of you) is losing it following the murders of Norm Duncan and Banko (King Duncan and Banquo, respectively), and much like the play’s “blood spots,” she’s hallucinating a burn mark on her hand.

This version focuses on the story of Macbeth taking place in a greasy, fast-food restaurant in Pennsylvania in 1975. The McBeth’s are an underachieving married couple who work as fry cooks for their boss, Norm Duncan, until “Mac” (Macbeth) has one too many drinks one night and wanders off to meet up with three hippies who tell his fortune. Naturally, Mac and his wife conspire to murder their boss and take over the restaurant.

1. What do you think is the effect of modernizing Lady Macbeth’s character into a slightly deranged, emasculated and dirty-mouthed fry cook? How does she measure up against the real Lady Macbeth? Is there a significant correlation?
2. Do you think modern adaptations of Shakespearean works do their written counterparts justice?

I'm including a link to the trailer in case anyone's interested. It's totally worth it:

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1367736601/

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