Macbeth from Madagascar to Japan. The Interlocked Issues of Film Adaptation and Cultural Appropriation
Keywords:
stage to screen adaptation, cultural appropriation, Macbeth, Shakespeare, transpositionAbstract
Any of Shakespeare’s most renowned works is a case study in its own right on the matter of cinematic adaptations of theatrical texts, as all have spawned numerous transpositions which vary from the strictly faithful to the original to the widely imaginative reworking. But the Bard’s historical plays, and Macbeth in particular, are inseparable from a set of socio-political circumstances that places physical violence at the core of its power dynamics. Alexander Abela’s Makibefo and Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood both relocate the intrigue of the Scottish play in a distinct and strongly typified spatio-temporal context, in an attempt at once to formulate an ethical commentary and address the issue of cultural appropriation.
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