Adaptation: Source Text in Cinema or Cinema versus the Source Text
When we screen an adaptation, we often find us ourselves feeling disappointed, especially when the film does not stay “true” to the source text. Before actually studying cinema, I was quick to dismiss a film’s merit due to its “unfaithful” depiction of the source text. One example is from one of my favorite directors, Francois Truffaut, who directed Fahrenheit 451 (1966), a film based on the novel written by Ray Bradbury and published in 1953. Truffaut had a different vision of the dystopian world. Because of its release in the sixties, it had a recognizable sixties flair and the plot and characters were drastically modified.
First and foremost, especially when it comes to critiquing an adaptation, we need to acknowledge that cinema and literature are two different art mediums. Therefore, the way form and content work between the mediums are going to be vastly different. An astute literary aficionado might be more sensitive to the appeal of the verbal nuances and intricacies of the text. Likewise, an astute spectator will be able to appreciate the complexities of cinematic codes (i.e., sound, mise en scène, and editing). As spectators and readers, we must understand and be responsive to the medium’s respective “language” (whether it is cinematic codes or literary text) when critiquing an adaptation.
When juxtaposing Polanski’s and Kurosawa’s adaptations, examine some of the cinematic codes in the following:
Mood and Atmosphere: What is the film’s cinematography?
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Editing (narratological structure)
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Mise En Scène: What do you see in the frame?
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According to The Cambridge Companion to Literature, we should examine the source text as “intertext” where the primary source is malleable and open to various interpretations and perspectives. Through this, our approach to adaptation is not limited to “eye to eye” comparisons (3). In other words, as we study both Polanski’s Macbeth and Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood, the degree of fidelity will not be our primary criteria. Rather, we will explore the adaptations’ transformative qualities as both source text and cinema “text” intersect or come together.
Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood (1957): Shakespeare in Japan
Many Western critics unlike their Japanese counterparts have hailed Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood as an acclaimed William Shakespeare adaptation in spite of the fact that it has drastically deviated from the source text.
Macbeth was Kurosawa’s favorite Shakespearean play. His passion for Shakespeare’s work inspired him to take an unorthodox attempt in his adaption. First, Throne of Blood is known for being a jidaigeki film, that is, a samurai film. Throne of Blood takes place 16th century feudal Japan (Sengoku Period), whereas Macbeth takes place in medieval Scotland. Secondly, he was able to transform the original text while intersecting the following art mediums to create a unique visionary narrative:
- Cinema (the craft of moving images)
- Noh theater influences (an ancient Japanese theater beginning in the 14 century)
- The literary work of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth
Kurosawa’s use of Noh in his adaption lends itself to a hybrid drama that impacts the film’s “representational” or symbolic qualities especially when it comes to the film’s aesthetics. The facial expressions of the actors, (Toshiro Mifune) who plays Washizu (Macbeth’s equivalent) and (Yamada Isuzu) who plays Lady Asaji (Lady Macbeth’s equivalent), emulate the masks actors would wear in a Noh production. Washizu “wears” the warrior mask and Lady Asaji “wears” the beautiful woman on the brink of insanity mask (Yoshimoto 253). In Noh Theater, actors physically wear masks that are archetypal representations of humanity (e.g., the youth, the warrior, the elderly, the beautiful woman), and they also represent the supernatural or the spiritual (e.g., ghosts, demons, and deities). Because Kurosawa explores the supernatural as well as man’s dealings with supernatural forces (much like the source text itself), he is able to flesh out the characters’ personality in the form of Noh symbolism.
Other aesthetics include Kurosawa’s meticulous use of framing, which also resembles the compact stage used in Noh Theater. Negative space reveals the tightness in interior spaces. In other words, indoor shots of Washizu’s/Macbeth’s dwelling are intentionally photographed as confining. Moreover, props are sparse in the filmic “stage”—also typifying Noh Theater. In the indoor scenes with only Washizu and Lady Asaji, we only see a table with his head gear, a sword, a mat, and another small table.
Kurosawa adopts the same mood and atmosphere of dread and ominousness in Macbeth through his use of black and white cinematography along with the use of oppressive lines in the mise en scène. In the adaptation, Kurosawa photographs extreme weather conditions, the foggy landscapes, clear skies, roaring winds, and torrential rains while keeping in mind the varying shades of gray. Compositional values are more distinctive in black and white photography. Horizon shots, in particular, reveal the stark contrast between the dark barren landscape and the pale sky. Similarly in Macbeth, opposites draw emphasis in the disordered world (e.g., fair and foul, lost and won battles, sun and storm, etc.), which is also “articulated” in Throne of Blood’s cinematography.
Unlike the character Macbeth in the source text, Kurosawa takes a more nihilistic approach in exploring Washizu’s (Macbeth’s) lack of free will in his decision to murder Tsuzuki (King Duncan). This is clearly articulated in the Witch Forest’s song where man’s existence is beautiful and fleeting. She states “A man lives but as briefly as a flower, destined all too soon to decay into the stink of flesh.” This foreshadows Washizu’s fate in which he cannot escape.
Such entrapment is underscored through the use of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines in the mise en scène. Lines can stem from the architectural design on the wall, sword(s), arrows, towering forest, etc.
Bird imagery (also used in the source text) also creates an ominous feel. Birds are heard and seen on and off screen. They “signal” an impending doom. The bird screeches before the killing of Tsuzuki (Duncan). There is also a brief shot of the night sky with a black bird flying over the Washizu and Lady Asaji’s dwelling.
As a whole, Kurosawa’s adaptation prompts a sort of multilayered “reading” of the film as he pulls together the source text and Noh Theater in the film’s aesthetics. Looking only for fidelity will not elicit such perceptive criticism.
Roman Polanski’s Macbeth (1971): Medieval Realism and Unnatural Horror
Throughout Polanski’s adaptation, he was able to weave in his own vision of the source text mostly through his cinematic signature mood and atmosphere that is often portrayed as unnaturally violent (depraved), dark, and oppressive. And through this lies the transformative qualities of Polanski’s adaptation of Macbeth.
Polanski captures the gritty realism of medieval Scotland—its grayish skies, damp and stone cold castles, the torrential rain, and the whipping wind. More specifically, the film begins with an ominous and foreboding panoramic shot of the slick seashore, which sets the precedence for the film’s atmosphere and setting. The gray sky meets the seashore and then we see the witches coming into frame, burying a severed forearm with a dagger clipped between thumb and forefinger, and then receding off into the distance. Because of the desaturated color palette, the sky and land meet. Symbolically, there is no division line, between the underworld and the world that we live in. Man must tend to this oppressive world, which also coincides with man’s troubled psyche. This is a common signature in Polankski’s oeuvre as we have seen in his other films such as the mysterious eerie nights in Chinatown (1974) and the barren and uninviting New York apartment in Rosemary’s Baby (1968). In Macbeth, the desaturated color palette reminds us of the impending doom and disorder that haunts a crumbling Scotland plagued by traitors and ambitious noblemen such as Macbeth. Along with the desaturated color palette is the use of dramatic theatrical lighting. The red moonlight enters Macbeth’s bedroom window and then rests upon the weary, sleepless, and restless Macbeth (Jon Finch) and Lady Macbeth (Francesca Annis) on the evening when Macbeth makes a fool of himself after seeing an apparition of a bloody Banquo. Such a scene ascertains Macbeth’s own future ailments in which he will “’Sleep no more’” after killing the king (2.2.36).
Adding to the atmosphere and mood is the animal imagery (much like the source text that underscores the unnatural world). We either hear or see an owl shriek or cry. A close-up shot of a rooster prematurely crows after the death of Duncan (which actually takes place around midnight), a bear is out of his natural habitat and is caged and taunted by humans and mauled by vicious dogs, a pair of dogs look weathered and unkempt when they scurry over to Lady Macbeth who reads a letter from her husband. Symbolically, humanity is on the brink of depravity when the laws of divine right are violated. Therefore, the natural world is in disorder. Polanski captures the mindset of the Elizabethan period—also referenced heavily in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The king rules by the Elizabethan laws of divine right: The king is God represented on earth. To unjustly remove this god (especially through foul play) will also disrupt the order in the cosmos.
To emphasize the themes of isolation, conspiracy, and anguish is the use of voiceovers (non-diegetic sound) in place of soliloquys. The voiceovers (like soliloquys) usually take place in lonesome settings where no one else is in frame but the character who is speaking. Voiceovers also provide insights to the conspiratorial and evil nature of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. Lady Macbeth engages in her famous “unsex me” soliloquy/voiceover on top of the castle while catching a bird’s-eye view of King Duncan’s arrival to her residence.
In another scene, Macbeth is alone outside in the rain while the festivities dedicated to the king takes place. The ambient sounds of the rain and the music reveal the ironic contrast between what is actually happening in the castle and what is actually happening in Macbeth’s mind simultaneously. His face is partially illuminated—one side dark and the other light. Moreover, the symbolic half-and-half photography coincides with a previous scene where Macbeth makes a disturbing request: “stars hide your fires,/Let not light see my black and deep desires” (1.4.50-51). The duality of his character (i.e., the “double-faced” visage) as a trusted nobleman and then later, a traitor, also represents Macbeth’s vacillation to carry out the evil deed, which causes his suffering. Macbeth knows first and foremost Duncan is a good king who holds Macbeth in high esteem. However, it is his “vaulting ambition” (free will) and the goading of his emasculating and demon-summoning wife that drive him to the heinous crime (1.7.27).
Furthermore, Polanski’s use of frame-within-a-frame, that is, a long shot of a character in a small window, reveals the vulnerability of the character’s isolation. This is clearly illustrated in a window shot of Duncan sleeping peacefully in Macbeth’s castle. Although Duncan is still alive in the shot, we can already interpret this scene as Duncan lying in his death bed.
Because of Roman Polanski’s austere visionary style, he has a tendency to indulge in his own stylistic interpretation of the source text even though he stays true to most of the source text’s key events. In essence, Polanski goes beyond the text. Some events such as the killing of the traitor, Thane of Cawdor, and Duncan’s murder took place off stage but included on screen with graphic violence. For instance, color contrasts are used to emphasize gore and violence, particularly amid Duncan’s slaying. Duncan’s red robe is befittingly photographed against the backdrop of muted colors and speckled lighting. The kingly red robe adds to the ghastly sight of the blood. This is one of the many “borrowed robes” that will eventually belong to Macbeth as prophesied by the witches (1.3.109).
Along with violence, Polanski befittingly employs elements of horror, which also contributes to the film’s mood and atmosphere. When Macbeth returns to the weird sisters, we not only see a ghastly sight of naked hags but also nightmarish or unsettling images that stains the mind. Superimposed images are used to show the chaos of the converging underworld and man’s world such as body organs dropped in the boiling cauldron. We also see admonishments from a child, a caesarean, and worms coming out of an armored mask.
With Polanski’s effective use of mood and atmosphere, he effectively paints a picture of the horror of the world instituted by the horror of man.
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Works Cited
The Cambridge Companion to Literature on the Screen. Eds. Cartnell, Deborah and Imelda Wheelman. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Shakespeare, William. The Arden Shakespeare: Macbeth. Eds. Clark, Sandra and Pamela Mason. 3rd Series. London: Bloomsbury, 2015.
Yoshimoto, Misuhiro. Kurosawa: Film Studies and Japanese Cinema. Eds. Chow, Rey, H.D. Harootunian and Masao Miyoshi. Durham: Duke University Press, 2000.
Specifically created for instructional purposes for the Film Criticism and Theory course February 23, 2016