Other changes were made to make the play more cinematic. Nearly all of King Duncan's scenes at the beginning of the play have been cut as well as the character of Donalbain, his second son. Macbeth is seen dictating his letter to his wife, rather than writing it himself. In the play, no such dictation scene exists. The Thane of Cawdor's execution takes place on-screen accompanied by insistent drumbeats. Lady Macbeth's suicide and the final battle between Macbeth's forces and Macduff's army are depicted on-screen; in the play, both scenes occur off-stage. Rather than fatally stabbing Macbeth and then beheading the dead body, Macduff kills Macbeth by slashing off his head. Needless to say, lines have been cut, speeches have been reassigned, scenes have been reordered, etc. This scandalized many critics at the time; today it is accepted practice to do so in film versions of Shakespeare plays to an even greater degree than Welles did, as Jean-Luc Godard did in his highly unusual and controversial "King Lear", and as Peter Greenaway did in "Prospero's Books".