Roman Polanski's film production Macbeth (1971) blends this classic Shakespearean tragedy with the film noir genre, creating a rich and dynamic combination. Classic film noir encapsulates “the pessimism, sadness, despair and paranoia that are evident […] Shot in dark grays, blacks and whites, it thematically showed the dark and inhuman side of human nature” (Conard 2006). Literally meaning film noir or cinema noir, film noir evokes moral darkness and corruption, evil, paranoia, mental disorders, fatalistic pessimism, violence and cruelty. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get the original essay Film noir “echoes a sense of moral corruption and betrayal in the film industry” (Gazetas 2008. From the opening scenes, the viewer is introduced to both moral darkness and corruption. The battle, in which King Duncan and Macbeth are involved, arises from the betrayal (coup) of the Thane of Cawdor against the. ruling regime while the herald invests Macbeth with the title of Thane of Cawdor, he gives news of the fate of the former Thane of Cawdor where "capital betrayals, confessed and proven, have overthrown him. evil for Macbeth and foreshadows Macbeth's future breach of faith and demise, although the battle served to quell the treacherous rebellion yet another germ in Macbeth's heart The seeds of corruption already present in Macbeth, germinate. and begin to take root when the Weird Sisters prophesie of his promotion to Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland. Banquo's fears are also well-founded because the witches' prophecy "inflames him for the crown." The prophecy fuels Macbeth's dormant ambition for kingship and his latent desire, combined with Lady Macbeth's subtle machinations and audacious cruelty, make for a dangerous combination that results in Duncan's regicide. lie, betray, kill or be killed in order to obtain what they secretly desire” (Gazetas 2008). The Macbeth duo's hellish ambition to usurp Duncan's throne is obvious. When Duncan declares the heir apparent, Prince of Cumberland, the announcement disappoints Macbeth but he is determined to obtain the kingship by any means necessary. He describes the Prince of Cumberland as "a step upon which I must fall or leap, for it lies in my path." From this statement we observe Macbeth's firm determination to seek all means to achieve his ends like Machiavelli. Additionally, Lady Macbeth's ambition exceeds Macbeth's because she is the active catalyst that instigates, organizes, and orchestrates Duncan's murder. She makes her ambitious desire known by hailing Macbeth as “Great Glamis, worthy Cawdor, greater than both by the hail of the beyond!” His anticipation of greatness and his cold calculations for the unscrupulous assassination of Duncan underline his lust for power. Even after the Macbeths are granted kingship, insecurity and ambition drive them to kill off the competition by murdering Banquo, the Macduffs, and all of Duncan's sympathizers. With a despotic hand, Macbeth exerts a strong influence over Scotland, manifesting moral corruption and deep darkness. Moral darkness is compounded by physical darkness and in the film noir genre the mood and dominant color images are black and gloomy. Film noir directors typically merge moral darkness and literal physical darkness using them as motifs to impress the mind with their correlation. “The dark and sordid environment also suggests hidden, malevolent forceslurking in the shadows, stalking their prey” (Gazetas 2008). When the Banquo's paid assassins head out to murder him, they observe that "it is day and yet the dark night chokes the traveling lamp". Along with this statement, Banquo, on his way to Macbeth's banquet, recognizes that "darkness buried the earth." "Evil agents are most active during the dark night, hence the fusion of moral darkness and physical darkness. Banquo does not know that his own murder is going to take place under the cloak of darkness. For his murder, Lady Macbeth invokes the darkness: “Come, seeing the night, hide the tender eye from the pitiful day” Similarly, the murder of King Duncan is also staged during the night, when the house and the entire royal retinue are asleep in a dramatic monologue. Before the murder of Duncan, Macbeth tells the stars of the night to “hide (their) fires”. Let not the light see my dark and deep desires” The theme of darkness reappears because when Macbeth visits the dwelling of the. witches in the caves, the darkness is always very thick, in a fit of anger he calls the witches "secret, the black witches of midnight" and the irony of this saying is that its truth is that of depravity. Morals and darkness go hand in hand Touching evil has its repercussions and as a result the Macbeths' minds become disordered and mental illness begins to encroach. “Film noir envisions a world where political disintegration and paranoia indicate continued disintegration” (Gazetas 2008). The paranoia is caused by a troubled conscience and lack of sleep and disturbed sleep results from their poor relationships. Due to their heavy mental burden and their poisoned conscience, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both suffer from sleep disorders. Their tormented souls are not at peace and therefore cannot enter this relaxed, unconscious state to renew their bodies and minds. Film noir shows the hallucinatory and nightmarish criminal world” (Gazetas 2008), Macbeth reports that he heard a voice saying: “Sleep no more, Macbeth kills sleep”. an insomniac and cannot sleep for a moment after murdering her monarch Similarly, as a wife, mastermind, and accomplice to many murders, Lady Macbeth suffers from insomnia. His doctor diagnoses his condition as being “troubled by fantasies which prevent him from sleeping.” What makes Lady Macbeth's sleep disorder worse than Macbeth's is sleepwalking. There is a scene of pathetic sleepwalking where his mind unloads and exposes his guilt. While rambling, she reveals past secrets and conspiratorial conversations with Macbeth that support her doctor's suspicions. As Lady Macbeth's hallucinations become worse and incidents of sleepwalking increase, Macbeth asks his doctor, "Can you cure a sick mind? Rip from memory an ingrained sorrow? Wipe the written troubles from the brain?" These questions demonstrate Macbeth's intense mental suffering, anguish, and trauma and express his desperation to get rid of them. Nightmares also demonstrate paranoia and Macbeth has several. Macbeth complains of the “terrible dreams that shake us at night.” In the film, Macbeth dreams that Banquo's son Fleance is choking him while he is in bed. After his death, Fleance takes the crown and places it on his head. This nightmare recounts Macbeth's deep fears and feelings of insecurity regarding his position as the enthroned monarch of Scotland. As if waking sleep and nightmares weren't enough, Macbeths' terror is heightened by terrible visitations from the supernatural world. Apparitions are another element ofparanoia from which Macbeth suffers. He alone sees people and objects that are the fruit of his imagination. Before Duncan's murder, Macbeth sees in front of him an imaginary dagger covered in blood. However, when he tries to grab the dagger, his hands pass through the invisible object. At the banquet, after Banquo is killed and Macbeth gives a toast in his honor, he sees a bloody-faced Banquo with several gashes on his face. As Banquo's ghost haunts him, King Macbeth is reduced to a screaming, delirious baby. No one else at the banquet table sees Banquo's spirit. Undoubtedly, these psychological tortures make life cease to be worthwhile and cast a negative outlook on life's outlook. In black cinema, darkness, gloomy weather, melancholy characters and desperate declarations demonstrate pessimism and nihilism. “Film noir is fundamentally nocturnal: it pursues a knowledge that is hidden behind the truth of the visible […] a knowledge that is a kind of nothingness, a negativity, death itself” (Harris 6). Macbeth's first observation after the battle is that it is a "bad day." Indeed, the day begins with gloomy, gloomy weather and a downpour of rain, and throughout the film are thunderstorms and downpours. Bad weather becomes a metaphor for the despair and sadness that the characters experience. The characters are mostly dressed in dark and funereal colors, morose and pensive. As Macbeth descends further into moral decadence, he looks back on his life and thinks about the future. Only dark thoughts come to his mind and for him, life becomes a meaningless march of time. Pessimism and nihilism culminate in Lady Macbeth's suicide. When Lady Macbeth dies, Macbeth, depressed and anguished, says that he has "lived long enough." “The particular message of film noir in general is that in the reality of our desire, we are all suicidal” (Harris 9). Macbeth then moralizes that “life is only a walking shadow […], a story told by an idiot, […] meaning nothing”. The film even ends on a pessimistic note as it ends with an evil solicitation. As Malcolm, the new reigning king, travels, he hears witches singing at the opening of a cave. His curiosity is piqued and he enters the cave. Polanski uses this incident to demonstrate the vicious cycle of evil with no hope of redemption. Macbeth's statement, "nothing is but that which is not" sums up the concept of nihilism. Critic John Murphy shares the position that Macbeth is a "dark, almost overtly nihilistic work" (Murphy). Violence, cruelty, blood and death constantly recur as themes and motifs in film noir as in Macbeth. “Film noir develops a cinema of cruelty” (Conley 1987), where “it is a world of violence where all human values ​​are seriously called into question” (Gazetas 2008). The opening scene begins with a strange funeral undertaken by the three Weird Sisters. They bury in the sand the hand of a dead man with a dagger in his hand, a noose and ashes. After covering the strange grave, they sprinkle the burial site with a little blood. These objects are not innocent but foreshadow future events in the film such as betrayal, violence, bloodshed, execution, and murder. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth take center stage in undertaking violent measures to achieve their evil goals. Macbeth's lust for power is matched by his lust for blood, and as he desires to consolidate his power, he becomes more and more ruthless. Macbeth turns against his own friend Banquo and his son, Fleance, and plots their murder. This goal., 2008.