Throughout Act 1 of Macbeth, director Kurzel portrays scenes of God, both literally and symbolically, to emphasize the presence of God watching over occurring darkness as well as the temptation of sin. In the opening battle scenes, before the initial violence, viewers see medium-long shots of the rage and din of battle as opposing sides charge towards each other at a ‘normal’ speed- paralleling human sin and darkness in the form of murder and death. Kurzel contrasts these scenes with slow-motion long shots of the landscape behind the battle, creating an atmosphere of tranquility compared to the violence in the preceding scenes. The landscape surrounding the battle consists of a tall mountain looming over and symbolically watching over the seemingly small and insignificant battle, as God would. The contrast between the heaven-like serenity within the slow, silent…show more content… Upon introduction, Lady Macbeth is sitting in a church, starting her ‘Unsex Me’ speech. The speech as a whole signifies Lady Macbeth's conflict between keeping her innocence and connection to God or embracing her darkness by murdering Duncan. Throughout the speech, most shots of Lady Macbeth are side lit, creating the effect of half her face being lit and the other dark, representing a psychological division as she entertains the idea of murdering King Duncan. As she nears the end of her speech, however, Lady Macbeth turns away from the light of the open door and faces the front of the church and God, her face completely obscured- representing her choice of darkness over light, and challenges Him to try and stop her from going through with her diabolical plan. Her open challenge, as well as the development of lighting in the scene, ultimately symbolizes Lady Macbeth’s acceptance of her inherent darkness and digression from God and
