Luca V
4LSU
Macbeth - film review
Macbeth
Film Review
Title:
Macbeth (full Shakespeare’s play title “The Tragedy of Macbeth”)
Year:
2015 – shown for the first time at Cannes Film Festival (23rd March)
Author/Director:
directed by Justin Kurzel and written by Jacob Koskoff, Todd Louiso, and
Michael Lesslie
Main Actors:
Michael Fassbender (Macbeth), Marion Cotillard (Lady Macbeth).
Based on:
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Release dates:
23 May 2015 (Cannes)
2 October 2015 (United Kingdom)
4 December 2015 (United States)
Running time:
113 minutes
Country:
United Kingdom, France, United States
Language:
English
Summary:
King Duncan’s generals, Macbeth and Banquo, encounter three strange
women on a bleak Scottish moorland on their way home from quelling a
rebellion. The women prophesy that Macbeth will be given the title of Thane
of Cawdor and then become King of Scotland, while Banquo’s heirs shall be
kings. The generals want to hear more but the weird sisters disappear.
Duncan creates Macbeth Thane of Cawdor to thank him for his success in
battles and then proposes to make a brief visit to Macbeth’s castle.
Lady Macbeth receives news from her husband, the prophecy and his new
title, and she vows to help him become king by any means she can.
Macbeth’s return is followed almost at once by Duncan’s arrival.
Luca V
4LSU
Macbeth - film review
The Macbeths plot together and later that night, while all are sleeping and
after his wife has given the guards drugged wine, Macbeth kills the King and
his guards.
Lady Macbeth leaves the bloody daggers beside the dead king. Macduff
arrives and when the murder is discovered, Duncan’s sons, Malcolm and
Donalbain flee, fearing for their lives, but they are nevertheless blamed for
the murder.
Macbeth becomes King of Scotland, but is plagued by feelings of guilt and
insecurity.
He arranges for Banquo and his son, Fleance to be killed, but the boy
escapes the murderers. At a celebratory banquet Macbeth sees the ghost of
Banquo and disconcerts the courtiers with his strange manner. Lady Macbeth
tries to calm him but is rejected.
Macbeth seeks out the witches and learns from them that he will be safe
until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane. They tell him that “he need fear
no-one born of woman”, but also that the Scottish succession will come
from Banquo’s son.
Macbeth embarks on a reign of terror and many, including Macduff’s family
are murdered, while Macduff himself goes to join Malcolm at the court of the
English king, Edward.
Malcolm and Macduff decide to lead an army against Macbeth.
Macbeth feels safe in his remote castle at Dunsinane until he is told that
Birnam Wood is moving towards him. The situation is that Malcolm’s army is
carrying branches from the forest as camouflage for their assault on the
castle. Meanwhile Lady Macbeth, paralysed with guilt, walks in her sleep and
gives away her secrets to a listening doctor. She kills herself as the final
battle commences.
Macduff challenges Macbeth who, on learning his adversary is the child of a
Ceasarian birth, realises he is doomed.
Macduff triumphs and brings the head of the traitor to Malcolm who declares
peace and is crowned king.
Source: http://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/play-summary/macbeth/
Luca V
4LSU
Macbeth - film review
Film review:
The film director, Justin Kurzel, was widely criticized by the audience, following the
release of the film, for the way in which he transposed the plot of the original tragedy
in the cinematic interpretation.
Personally, I agree with these opinions. Watching the film, I noticed that it definitely
lacked any manipulations of the original text - except a couple of situations in which
manipulation was necessary for the filming.
In my opinion, this fact could be
interpreted as lack of attention or
interest by the film director, in adapting
the story and the plot to contemporary
society: the director managed, therefore,
to focus mostly on a stylistic approach,
almost wanting to demonstrate a high
technical capability at the expense of
the obvious retelling of the original text
that, probably, the whole audience
would have expected.
1 An example of an amazing landscape in "Macbeth"
The filming took place between Scotland and England and the setting was astonishing.
2 Lady Macbeth’s make up.
Undoubtedly, the landscapes and the scenography are incredible. In any case, special
effects were not so amazing as the setting. Macbeth is certainly a gory tragedy, but
Bernard Newton (director of special effects) exaggerated this aspect and made some
scenes rather unrealistic, while he dismissed others.
Luca V
4LSU
Macbeth - film review
I think that surprising the audience with special effects is pretty common device, but I
find it ridiculous to sicken the audience with thousands of litres of blood: in my opinion,
something that is realistic is more incisive.
Soundtracks are secondary compared to scenography, nonetheless they follow the
development of the scenes perfectly, and they emphasize their role in the plot.
Costumes are coherent with the historical background, anyway I find the make-up less
pertaining to the context. I appreciated how Kirsty Mcqueen, the makeup artist, made the
actors look very natural. A good makeup artist must be able to create a make-up that
no one should see, to portray a period in which there weren’t our make-up devices
and products. He managed to do that even though in the scene of the banquet Lady
Macbeth looks like a model of Givenchy more than a medieval woman. In the battle
scenes, the make-up of the actors is also rather unconvincing: the warriors are a bit
unrealistic and too “fancy”.
Anyway, we may jokingly consider his “creativity” like an expression of his career, also
because the choice of Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth is a bit questionable: she has
been the testimonial of Lady Dior bags since 2008 and has appeared in more than 200
magazine covers worldwide… Was Kurzel convinced to choose her as Lady Macbeth?
Did he know that the Shakespearean character was disagreeable and reprehensible?
Well, I don’t think so. Although, I find Ms Cotillard very pretty, I don’t think that it is a
good choice to combine “pretty” and “Lady Macbeth”.
Kurzel’s “Macbeth” grabs you with the charismatic presence of its two stars, Michael
Fassbender and Marion Cotillard. Anyway, in my opinion, Michael Fassbender conveys
better than Ms Cotillard the message that Shakespeare meant for these characters. In
the original tragedy, they were both round characters, but I think that the way in which
Fassbender undergoes his “transformation” is more efficient, and this is the reason why
I appreciate Fassbender as an actor, in this film, more than Marion Cotillard.
L.V.