Scotland, 11th century. Driven by the twisted prophecy of three witches and the ruthless ambition of his wife, warlord Macbeth, bold and brave, but also weak and hesitant, betrays his good king and his brothers in arms and sinks into the bloody mud of a path with no return, sown with crime and suspicion.
Cinematography
Every frame looks like a rotting oil painting—Gilbert Taylor is unhinged.
Direction
Polanski's first film post-Manson: grief, blood, and no mercy.
Production
Playboy money funded this—Hugh Hefner's weirdest legacy.
Director
Roman Polanski
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Hugh Hefner's Playboy Productions bankrolled this after Universal backed out—Hefner wanted 'prestige cinema' alongside the centerfolds.
The witches' prophecy scene uses actual elderly extras with no teeth, filmed in relentless rain—Polanski refused glamour in medieval Scotland. This was his return to directing after the Manson murders, and critics noted the film's obsessive focus on blood, children in peril, and collapsing sanity.
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