Review of Macbeth (2015) by El_Jacko — 04 Dec 2015

Disclaimer: I f*cking love the original play.

This film got almost everything right in my opinion. The emphasis, however, lies on the almost. The production design is fantastic, the cinematography is gorgeous, the stars absolutely look the part (watching this film without sound would likely have you believing that it was a total masterpiece) and the new interpretations that are brought to the table are intriguing. There is one aspect, sad,y, that Justin Kerzel's adaptation totally butchers and alone derails the film entirely. The delivery of the lines. Fassbender and Cotillard do not seem to have a clue what they are talking about and what each individual word actually MEANS. The emphasis is on pretty much every incorrect syllable to the point where one would think they are not speaking English. To add insult to injury, the actors have been told to convey their lines in such a bleak and dismal fashion that they lose all charisma and do end up becoming excruciatingly dull. This is only one bad element to what would be an otherwise excellent film, however, Shakespeare's popularity has endured principally due to the poetry of his text - this play is 90% dependent on its dialogue. Therefore, if you screw up the dialogue in the way that the makers of this film have, you have absolutely no chance of being successful.