Review of Macbeth (2015) by Nima S — 08 Oct 2015

Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most powerful plays and has been adapted numerous times in different formats, with the most notable ones being Roman Polanski's Macbeth (1971) and Akira Kurusawa's Throne of Blood (1957), with the latter being arguably the best one yet. This latest screen version comes from Australian filmmaker Justin Kurzel starring Michael Fassbender as the title character and Marion Cotillard as his manipulative wife. This time, the setting is close to the play, but the execution has a modern sensibility to it with imagery that will not leave our memories for a long time.

The story is well-known by most people. It is Shakespeare's shortest and darkest tragedy that tells the story of a brave Scottish general named Macbeth (Fassbender) who receives a prophecy from a group of witches that one day, he will become the king of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and manipulated by his wife (Cotillard), he murders king Duncan and takes the throne for himself. He is then wracked with guilt and paranoia, becoming a ruthless ruler forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion. The bloodbath and consequent civil war slowly take Macbeth and Lady Macbeth into the realms of madness and ultimately, death.

One of the interesting approaches to this interpretation is moving away from the traditional interior-based look of the play. The film spends a lot of time in the vast Scottish landscapes that are sometimes reminiscent of Nicolas Winding Refn's Valhalla Rising (2009). It opens with a striking image of the two leads attending their child's funeral. This opening tackles the question of the couple's evident childlessness, and makes their joined hunger for power some form of twisted therapy for loss. Afterwards, we are introduced to the opening battle sequence which is both wonderfully put together and ruthlessly violent. The constant slowing-down / speeding-up technique (which is very overused in recent action films) is used perfectly here and adds to the emotional impact of the imagery. The amazing score by Jed Kurzel and the editing makes the scene a fantastic visualization of the trauma left off-screen while the psychological context for Macbeth's bloody future is fully fleshed out.

The acting is fantastic across the board, which is great news since a Shakespeare adaptation would easily fall apart without strong deliveries. Fassbender's interpretation of the character is raw, emotional and full of heart. He is both believable as a fearless warrior and a king gone mad, with his animalistic behaviours and ruthless violence. His Scottish accent might be dodgy here and there but that is nit-picking since all of his deliveries are powerful and full of impact. He is a man possessed by a demonic ambition and his cruelty rubs out any nobility to his plight. And then there's Cotillard, who once again proves why she's one of the strongest actresses in the business. The French Oscar winner delivers Shakespeare's difficult dialogue flawlessly and her incarnation of Lady Macbeth has a level of humanity and grief that distinguishes her from other interpretations of the role. She poisons her husband's mind with a dark path but is constantly protective of him and is horrified over his actions in the course of the story. She simply makes the best out of her comparably short presence in the film and does more with less, including a powerful monologue that has a great payoff. The two create some of the film's best scenes including the "Queen is dead" moment that is genuinely shocking and effective.

If there is a criticism to the overall film, it goes to the sheer exclusiveness of the finished movie. It will work fantastically with more patient, art-house loving audience members but might fail to entertain general movie goers. The dialogue is heavy and operatic and the pacing is slow and steady, giving us the time to fully appreciate the sheer beauty of some of the set pieces. But for those familiar with the source material, there are plenty of things to enjoy and enough reasons to give this new adaptation a chance. The ending is visually breathtaking with a red and yellow colour pallet that gives the sequence a nightmarish look and feel. This makes the film go out on a very high note and makes this well-known tragedy feel as vital and important as Shakespeare's original play. This Macbeth distinguishes itself from the other ones by Kurzel's fantastic direction, impressive camera work and the detailed production design that are all complimentary to the powerful cast. It may not be the best Macbeth movie adaptation, but it sure is a great one.