Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #52292 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-10-14
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 113 minutes

Amazon.com
A fatally ambitious gangland enforcer (John Turturro) collides with destiny after following the murderous advice of three fortunetellers and his shrewish wife . . . does any of this sound familiar, Shakespeare fans?

While this occasionally effective, mostly hilarious drama may not be the first film to transplant the tragedy of Macbeth to a modern-day milieu (that honor goes to a 1955 obscurity with the wonderfully blatant title of Joe Macbeth), it's surely the most brazenly literal, with a jaw-dropping amount of anachronistic boogying by cast and crew. (Viewers familiar with the Bard are advised not to drink milk during the reworking of Lady M's famous "Out, damn spot" soliloquy, lest they run the risk of having said dairy product forcibly eject itself via nasal passage.) The result is a failed experiment to be sure, but a well-acted (especially by Dennis Farina and the perfectly cast Steven Wright as the Gatekeeper), oddly watchable one all the same. An altogether more successful reimagining of the source material can be found with Akira Kurosawa's masterful Throne of Blood. --Andrew Wright

Customer Reviews

Leonard Maltin [once again] left clueless
This film is flawless. Don't let the TRULY pretentious Shakespeare snobbery of the reviewers put you off if you're fans of the mob genre or the greatest writer of all time. Done with a more modest indie budget, it compares equally with "Goodfellas" or any other example you care to name and the Shakespearean quality remains in the timelessness of human lust for power. Maltin's talking about flashlights shows a genuine density of insight, as the character is actually wandering at night in a trance of insanity. Its not about sleeping disorders, Leonard!

Turturro by the way gives this film his best performance ever and all the casting is outstanding.

A brilliant reworking--don't listen to the "experts"
John Turturro pulls out all stops here in this gangster version of Macbeth in the 'title' role (Michael Battaglia), ably complemented by his real-life wife, Katharine Borowitz as Lady Macbeth/Mrs. Battaglia. Also contributing with great performances are Rod Steiger as the aging mob chieftain (the King), Peter Boyle, Dennis Farina, Stanley Tucci, and, in an inspired bit of casting, comic Stephen Wright. The performances are truly riveting. It's a shame that the 'expert' critics can't see the power and ingenuity of this film.

Far more than a shlock version of Shakespeare's masterpiece, it's an intense, flawless work, updating the Bard's lines with the brutal lingo of the mob. William Reilly, the writer-director, also co-wrote Mortal Thoughts, another sadly overlooked razor-sharp film. And he really knows how to write; the script here allows the performances to be as great as they are.

Don't pay attention to Leonard's totally-missing-the-boat words of condemnation. In fact, I would say, Out, out, damned Leonard. Rent this movie--better yet, buy it. You won't be disappointed.

shakespeare on the mean streets
This film is a very good interpretation of Shakespeare's MacBeth, transplanting it into the New York Italian American mafioso setting. John Tutturo is intense as usual as Mikey Battaglia. Peter Boyle as Irish mob boss Duffy (MacDuffy) is the final obstacle that Mikey can't clear. Especially good is the way in which Shakespeare's language has been preserved, if modified, into current day vernacular. "He has honored me of late, and I have bought golden opinions..." becomes "He's given me honor and respect here, and people are sayin' good things about me. I want it should last." Even the off beat humor of the Porter has been preserved, with a nice low key turn by Steven Wright. Students who enjoy the Sopranos will dig this film.