095 - Macbeth

Synopsis: The Scottish Play - power and paranoia 

Director: Roman Polanski

Actors: Jon Finch, Francesca Annis, Martin Shaw

Date: 1971

How viewed: You tube

Rating: 2/5

David Meyer says:
Polanski's gift to this genre is to take the Royal Shakespeare Company out of their cloistered sets and into the damp, dirty and foreboding Welsh countryside. His revolutionary use of hand-held cameras frees his actors from the constipated Englishness of their training. 

I say:

One would need to know the play, and various versions, to know what Polanski adds - and I don't! Reviews suggest that Polanski makes Macbeth and Lady Macbeth younger/sexier (bizarrely it was financed by Hugh Hefner and Playboy) and makes the film more violent (including showing some deaths that normally happen off-stage). I'm sure even an amateur psychiatrist could diagnose Macbeth's problem - it all seems to stem from the prophecies of the 3 witches - you will become king (he makes sure that happens) but it will be Banquo's children that will reign thereafter (which he tries to prevent). As a result all around him either die or realise he's lost the plot. I watched this on Youtube (thank you!) - though both the sound and picture were a bit blurry but the story is pretty straightforward and I guess you either know the words off by heart or will recognise many of the famous speeches. Did I like it? Not really. 

094 - In a lonely place

Synopsis: A murder suspect falls for the neighbour who gives him an alibi

Director: Nicholas Ray

Actors: Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy

Date: 1950

How viewed: films.org

Rating: 2/5

David Meyer says:
Bogart underplays to perfection, and his rages spring to the surface with a terrifying and entirely believable energy. Grahame seems completely insane. 

I say:

This is another film that doesn't quite hit the mark. It's not suspenseful enough to be a murder mystery, it scratches the surface of the pressures of the film-business, and the love story is actually about a controlling violent relationship. So, Humphrey Bogart is a well-respected screen-writer (probably with writer's block) who becomes a suspect in a murder, but (possibly) is alibied by his blonde neighbour (Grahame). He becomes obsessed with her, she is interested, they fall in love, and everything is hunky-dory for a while (he writes, she makes breakfast) but then his violent side emerges as soon as anything negative happens. The police and her masseuse still have suspicions about his guilt and sow seeds of doubt in Laura's mind. She begins to see the light and tries to get away. Bogart is Bogart, Grahame is cool, his agent and best friend actor are the comic turns, and while things are going well, there's lots of banter - but overall it's a rather unpleasant film (particularly viewed from this day and age of equality). PS the book (by Dorothy Hughes) on which the film is based, is supposed to be rather good, and very different from the film!! PPS don't really understand that statement by David Meyer that Grahame seems completely insane - I didn't think she was at all!