Macbeth

Roman Polanski’s adaptation of the Scottish play isn’t entirely draped in darkness, but it often seems so, and the daylit shots of treacherous landscapes and the bright smears of gore only serve to shroud the proceedings further in murk. This is Shakespeare as fright show, with the director using the tale of the murderously ambitious war hero as the basis for a bloody study of guilt and paranoia. The leads may be lightweights — Annis’ pale pushiness is more suggestive of a Melrose Place hussy than a grand evildoer — but the horror’s very heavy. B