MACBETH
Title: MACBETH
Year: 2015/2016
Director: JUSTIN KURZEL
Country: United Kingdom, France,
United States of America
Language: English
The story is set in Scotland , during King Duncan's reign.
The film starts with Macbeth's son’s funeral which immediately gives the idea of a tragic story.
After that, there is a fight: the Scottish army go against Norway and Ireland. Macbeth and Banquo, two of Duncan's
bravest captains, are retourning from the battle when they encounter three witches, which greet Macbeth as "Thane of
Cawdor" and tell him he shall become king, but also that Banquo's son will be king. Macbeth and Banquo are amazed
when some of the king's men arrive and confer on Macbeth the title of Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth sends a letter to his
wife, Lady Macbeth, telling everything. The couple, priked by ambition, plans and carries out the murder of Duncan:
during the night, Macbeth kills the king and scares the king's son, but he feels upset, so Lady Macbeth takes control of
the situation and deflects suspicions on the guards. Macbeth becomes king and tries to kill Banquo and his son: Banquo
dies but his son Fleance survives. Macbeth, consumed by anxiety and fear, goes to the three witches again, which say
that «no man born from woman will ever kill him». Macbeth thinks he is invincible and grows more reckless.
Lady Macbeth, who is tortured by her sense of guilt , commits suicide. Meanwhile, Duncan's sons and their loyal
followers, which are in exile, plan to kill Macbeth: the royal castle is attacked and Macbeth is killed.
The most important and meaningful scenes are:
MOST
IMPORTANT
SCENES AND
THEMES
the greeting of the three witches, which gives the idea of
a looming fate;
the dialogue between Macbeth and his wife, when she
unveils her plan to murder king Duncan, because it
conveys the idea of violence, ‘choices’ and personal
ambition – the most important themes;
Lady Macbeth’s monologue when she commits sucide,
which gives the idea of human values and highlights her
repentance for her first action and for having made a
monster of her housband (love theme).
Macbeth's monologues are also important because they
make us understand the effects that the murder of the
king and all that violence and ambition have had on
Macbeth.
MAIN CHARACTERS
MACBETH is a warrior. At the
beginning he is respectful to
the king but after murdering
Duncan he changes and
becomes a murderer and a
tyrant.
When he realizes that he and
his wife had been instruments
of the fate to allow Banquo's
son to become king, he
becomes insane, at the end.
LADY MACBETH:
At the beginning she is blind
because of her ambition,
but in the end she commits
suicide because she realizes
what she had done. She is a
very strong woman, and she
seems to be the cause of
everything Macbeth does.
Secondary
characters
THE THREE WITCHES:
They make the predictions
giving origin and creating the
events of the story.
Colour and
perspective
The film uses RED in many scenes to
emphasize the violence and to highlight
that Macbeth's life, after the murder, can
never be as before, because the blood in his
hands will never go away.
There are lots of CLOSE-UPS to focus
attention on the characters' emotion.
The film uses silence during fights and
often during the development of the story
to highlight characters' emotions.
The soundtrack gives "power" and
emphasizes some scenes
SOUND
Macbeth, the film, has been created for those who
have already read the shakespearian work,
otherwise it becomes very difficult to understand
the story. Nonethless, the film is very well shot, full
of emotions and engaging moments.
My favourite scene is the monologue of Lady
Macbeth with her dead son's ghost: I think it's really
moving the way she manifests her nostalgia and love
for him; she is impressively convincing!