Film : Macbeth Album : Within the Realm of a Dying Sun

Macbeth is a film that was directed by Roman Polanski and it was released in 1971. The film does an excellent job at presenting Shakespeare's play on a camera, whereas it's usually portrayed on a stage. The film does have plenty of violence and sexuality, so if you find these things to be a little too much for you then you shouldn't watch it. There is one particular scene that I wasn't expecting the director to show, which I won't reveal but lets just say it involves a little boy. The setting one the movie was also a high point, with the movie being filmed in Northern Wales. U.K. The main castle was also rather interesting, but it could have looked a wee bit better. The actors and actresses are another high point, which Jon Finch's role of Macbeth being the best of the bunch. He does a good job showing the tragical aspect of the Macbeth character. For those that love Shakespeare and have been wanting to see this particular play on film, you definitely shouldn't miss out on this one.

Within the Realm of a Dying Sun was recorded by the band Dead Can Dance and it was released in the year 1987. If you had to pinpoint a genre to the album it would have to either be world music or classical. Some of the songs have a Gothic tinge to them as well. The album itself is split up into two parts, each part being dominated by one of the two vocalists. The first part is dominated by Brendan Perry and the second part by Lisa Gerrard. The two best tracks from the album are Xavier and Cantara. The music has a tragic tone to it, which fits perfectly with the tragic tone of Macbeth. Lisa also uses her dramatic mezzo-soprano vocals on this album, but the only downside to them is that its rather difficult to understand what she's saying. In a decade where every woman wanted to either sound like Madonna or Joan Jett, it is rather refreshing to hear something different come from a woman. Brendan's voice is also a high point, not being too strong in the mix but not being too soft. A very good album if you want to see classical like music being played by a band from the 80's.