In an effort to preserve realism in the film, director Roman Polanski opted to change the traditional conveyance of Shakespeare's soliloquies and asides. Rather than having Macbeth speak the lines directly on-camera, the actor reads the speeches as a voiceover, while the audience views shots of Macbeth's head. While this preserves traditional cinematic trends--the other characters would be shocked to see Macbeth speaking to himself--it is inappropriate for this play, as so much is related to the audience in these speeches. The actor's portrayal of the thinking Macbeth is often without any perceptible emotion; his dull `cow' eyes stare blankly into space. In stage versions of the play, soliloquies and asides are spoken by the actor directly to the audience, while other characters on stage either remain still or go about `background' activities--eating, `talking' (silently: they give only the appearance of speaking), or sleeping. This...