Shakespeare's Macbeth derives much of its dramatic tension from the choices and decisions made by the individual character within the framework of a medieval Christian universe. Welles's film inevitably reduces this dramatic intensity by limiting Macbeth's options, and by giving the witches a manipulative ascendancy, their power over Macbeth being visually established early in the film when they are depicted with a small crowned effigy at their feet. As a reflection of Shakespeare's play, the film fails more lamentably because of its deviation from the original dramatic perspective. Some scenes (notably the murder of Duncan, the banquet and Lady Macbeth's sleep-walking scene) are overblown and lose their impact while other important action is awkwardly compressed. There is an unsuccessful attempt to keep the Christian dimension of the drama alive through the ubiquitousness of the Holy Father (an additional character invented by Welles). There are seemingly pointless changes in the dramatic action. Macbeth is brought into the latter part of Lady Macbeth's sleep-walking scene, yet she is allowed the run off shrieking, to fall to her death despite the emphatically depicted bars on the castle windows. The ineffective nature of evil is lost when Macbeth appears personally to participate in the murder of the Macduff family. The film's dramatic power suffers, too, from a noticeable exhaustion of acting technique during those scenes which Welles films in long takes.