Nudity - The Tragedy of Macbeth (1971) Discussion

[–] stevenackerman69 16 years ago

Maybe some of the nudity came about because Hugh Hefner was the executive producer of the film. We know what *beep* he does that has nudity in it. But I thought the nudity was done well. Macduff's son was nude because he was taking his bath and that was how they did it in those times. For Lady Macbeth, she was sleepwalking and that added to it. Also, maybe they slept nude anyway. As for the witches, well, they aren't human so maybe that was how they were when they were in their cavern.

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] whitespirit26 16 years ago

"that was how they did it in those times"

Uh duh, that's how we do it these times too when we bathe. The difference is, people don't usually come in and watch, whether parents or cameramen. It was unnecessary and stupid.

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[–] stevenackerman69 12 years ago

True, maybe that was sort of a weird thing to say. It isn't like today we bathe in a bathing suit or underwear. But I guess they wanted to have something for Lady Macduff and her son to do during their dialogue.

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[–] whitespirit26 11 years ago

Thank you, I agree. I just can't believe Polanski would choose something as stupid as that. But the movie's chock full of gratitious junk.

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[–] rwsmith29456 16 years ago

I saw this when it first came out (I was reading it in Literature class, too). Back then our idea of witches was Margaret Hamilton in the Wizard of Oz. Seeing the old hags naked in Macbeth was sort of reeling, like, "Is this how witches really were?" It wasn't sexual, it was hideous and I think it made the point. As far as MacDuffs son goes, back then, people were used to the idea of naked children, it was no big deal (look at the cover art on Led Zepplin's 'Houses of the Holy' album) until nowadays when we know everybody and his brother is a child molester. Lady Macbeth... could have been considered sexy, but she was eat up with guilt and crazy, not sexy. Besides, we don't know what, if anything, people wore to bed in the 1100s.

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[–] CinemaRomeo 16 years ago

I'm surprised that people familiar with Polanski's work haven't brought up "Rosemary's Baby" when talking about those scenes. Mia Farrow walks nude into a witches' coven and lies down on a bed while surrounded by old withered naked witches. The film was made three years before "Macbeth" was, while Sharon Tate was still alive. Polanski clearly saw Shakespeare's play as a kind of horror tale.

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[–] aawsmith-1 8 years ago

What a bum! Francesca Annis has the perfect woman's bum. I loved that scene.

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[–] aawsmith-1 8 years ago

Has anyone noticed that Lady Macbeth's bum cheeks flap during that nude scene? Wow! It is as if God made Francesca Annis's bum for nothing but beauty. She really does have a great ass.

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