ALL HAIL MACBETH: My 1st Time At An Indie Theater!!!

“To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.” 
― William Shakespeare, Macbeth


That is my favorite quote from the play. To me, it tells me not to take life as a stressful part of human nature. But at the same time, it sounds negative and makes me wonder what the point is to all the worries in the mind. It makes me skeptical and I stop and look at all aspects of my life.

But to be completely honest with you, I didn't fully grasp the understanding of the quote until I saw the movie. We read the play in class, but there's so much that goes into school that I miss out on things like...this. We even watched the 1971 version of the movie in class and I still glazed over it. But compared to the 2015 version, Polanski's was a bit of a parody. The class and I actually were laughing at Macbeth and Macduff's fight scene at the end. That's how satirical it seemed. But let me tell you something: I was not laughing at the fight scene in the latest Macbeth. Not at all. I actually cried... twice!

I didn't see this movie like I would see any other (online or in a local theater). I guess the film is independent because I had to go to the Ritz At The Bourse to see it. I can see why it's indie. There's no soundtrack, no entirely major actors, and the character's stick to the original script, which means they speak Shakespearean, which means you have to pay VERY close attention to understand what is going on in the story because believe it or not: the English language has evolved over the passed four centuries. Therefore I commend the actors for their understanding of the dialogue to portray the words effectively. Other than that, the scenery was breathtaking and the action scenes and shots and depiction of old Scotland was very impressive.

I also like how the overall feel of the movie was fit to match the mood of the tragic events of the play. Nothing was embellished to look fancy and royal like a Disney movie. Everything was dark, the score was ominous, and the characters played along very well with showing emotion to go along with the downfall of their civilization.

Everything that happens in this story had a condition to it. All I could think while I was watching was that Macbeth could have achieved his place as king, but it was invalid to do so at the expense of other people. He was wicked and cruel, but eventually had nothing to lose. All he had was his place as king, which the rest of Scotland was ready to relieve him of.

Even his relationship with Lady Macbeth wasn't right. During one of their intimate moments, she starts talking about their plot to kill king Duncan. That's nasty. Macbeth seems like he was only acting out of morals because he wanted to please her. Even after they became royalty, Macbeth was telling her how troubled he was mentally, but then proceeded to attempt to embrace her. She rejects his attempt (probably because he's obviously lost his mind), but kisses him instead; then a tear rolls down his face as they make eye contact. Not to mention the fact that Lady Macbeth commits suicide because even she couldn't take the stress of being responsible for other people's deaths. Both of them started seeing dead people, but specifically the dead people they were responsible for. It's like guilt follows you wherever you go.

What really sucks about the story is the fact that nothing happened on good terms. All the good people had to die for nothing, and the bad people had fake smiles to hide their true intentions. But one of the biggest questions I ask myself revolves around the concept of the prophecies: when a fate is presented, do you do what is in your power to make them happen, do you sit back and let life take its path for you, and above all, what determines which of the two to do?

Overall, I had a great experience. I had no school because it's MLK Jr. day, and I was planning to go to the indie theater today a week ago. I originally was going to go see this movie called Mustang, until my English teacher said that Macbeth was out as well and he's giving 25 extra credit points to students who present proof that they've been to the movies. Since I was going there anyways, I figured I'd take advantage of the opportunity. So I have my ticket to get the points.

I enjoyed my trip as well. The temperature was in the 20's, but I really needed to get away for a bit to get my mind off of things, so I dealt with the cold. The lady who sold me my ticket was really nice. I don;t know if she sees too many young people go there because most of the people I saw were much older than me. I felt slightly embarrassed because my hands were so cold that I could barely get the money out to pay for the ticket. She seemed sympathetic about it though. There was also a cool looking guy with a man bun in charge of the concession stand. He seemed nice too, since he patiently waited for me to figure out what I wanted to eat. And while I was waiting for the movie to start, they were playing indie music on the speakers. It was beautiful . <3

It was a spectacular experience, and I really enjoyed myself. I'm glad this movie was the first indie film I saw in an indie theater, and I cannot wait for more experiences like this one. ^_^