Review: Macbeth

Year: 2015

Certificate: 15

Director: Justin Kurzel

Screenwriters: Jacob Koskoff, Michael Lesslie, Todd Louiso, William Shakespeare (original play)

Cast: Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, David Thewlis, Sean Harris, Jack Raynor, Paddy Considine

As civil war tears across Scotland, a meeting with three prophetic witches in the aftermath of a battle ignites the ‘vaulting ambition’ of brilliant soldier Macbeth (Michael Fassbender), testing his loyalty to King Duncan (David Thewlis) to its limit.

Muscular, haunting, and drenched (literally and figuratively) in the wild weather and muted colour palette of the Scottish highlands, Justin Kurzel’s intepretation of one of Shakespeare’s most powerful tragedies resonates with import and emotion. The opening scene, a battle played out in balletic slow motion backed by Jed Kurzel’s thundering score, sets the tone perfectly for the artful chaos set to unfold as Macbeth’s encounter with the Wyrd Sisters (here three women of different ages accompanied by a child) places him on a path to destruction.

Fassbender and Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth both deliver impressive performances. Their backstory, ambiguous in Shakespeare’s script, is more explicitly charted out in an early funeral scene for a toddler, and the two leads embrace this tragedy in their characterisations. Fassbender’s extraordinary talent for physical mannerism is put to good use here; Shakespeare’s complex dialogue is made transparent in Macbeth’s increasingly tense posture and darting eyes as guilt and paranoia slowly overwhelm him. Kurzel and Cotillard’s interpretation of Lady Macbeth is unusual: they avoid more typical touchstones such as anger or (in more uncharitable interpretations) hand-rubbing greed and opt instead for a serpentine sense of entitlement, perhaps driven by past tragedies. This at times seems a little at odds with the script during the first act, however it becomes a stroke of genius when things begin to go awry. Cotillard’s expressive face betrays Lady Macbeth’s mounting desperation as she realises that the rarefied life she envisioned in return for one dark deed is beginning to disintegrate as rapidly as her husband’s sanity.

It is these and other interesting directorial and stylistic decisions which make this adaptation completely Kurzel’s own. The two most famous speeches, ‘is this a dagger…’ and ‘out damned spot…’ are given a fresh perspective with the addition of spectral presences in their own way more alarming than the canonical ghost of Banquo, whose appearance is understated other than in the effect it exerts upon Macbeth. Pared down to just under two hours, the story moves at a steady pace, but some parts- the first act in particular- feel a little rushed. Macbeth’s initial, tortured vacillation between loyalty to his king and the seductive promise of power is somewhat glossed over here, which perhaps underplays the character’s (initially, at least) strong sense of morality, and what it costs him internally to compromise that. That misgiving aside, careful script editing by Koskoff et al. and the strength of the supporting cast, including Paddy Considine’s Banquo and Sean Harris’ brooding but shrewd Macduff, mean that every scene hums with tension, and that Shakespeare’s meaning is seldom lost.

Verdict: 4/5

Image credit: macbeth-movie.com