Macbeth – Film Review by Cormac Fitzgerald

Director: Justin Kurzel

Writer: Jacob Kosoff; Michael Lesslie; Todd Louiso; – adapted from play by William Shakespeare

Starring: Michael Fassbender; Marion Cotillard; Sean Harris; David Thewlis

It doesn’t take long for the blood to start falling in Macbeth. After burying their new born child (the first deviation from Shakespeare’s original play), Macbeth (Michael Fassbender) is off to battle the armies of the traitor MacDonwald in the name of King Duncan of Scotland. The ensuing battle is an intense, physical bloodbath, shot half in slow motion, not unlike previous films Gladiator or even 300. Macbeth is fierce on the battlefield, hacking down foot soldiers before cleaving the head clean off the rebel leader. It’s clear then from the off then that director Justin Kurzel is going straight for the jugular with this adaptation of the classic Shakespearean tragedy.

Kurzel’s 11th century Scotland is a brutal and ragged place. Any hint of grandeur or kingly elegance in the original script can be forgotten immediately, replaced instead with vast moors and highlands – desolate spaces where battles rage and witches roam. Macbeth’s homestead (called a castle in Shakespeare’s original) is just encampment of tents, whereas King Duncan’s castle is wide-open, harsh stone and marble. The setting reinforces that sense of the physical and brutal that seems to be the hallmark of the production. A resounding, ear-drum battering score features throughout the piece, hammering home once again the relentless force of the production.

As for the story itself, Macbeth is a classic tale of reckless ambition, betrayal, murder and the madness that follows. Returning home from the aforementioned battle, Macbeth is approached by the Weird Sisters, a trio of witches, who prophesise his rise to power as king. Driven by this prophecy, Macbeth, encouraged by his wife Lady Macbeth (Marion Cotillard), kills King Duncan in order to rise to power. Further prophecies have Macbeth murder others who may challenge his claim to the throne, but the despicable deeds eventually lead to madness and death for both husband and wife.

If you don’t already know the story pretty well, then don’t expect to learn anything from this production. The Shakespearean dialogue is present in force here, and numerous soliloquies and poetic back and forth will be difficult to decipher (not to mention much of the original dialogue being altered and pared back). Compounding this is that sometimes it’s just hard to understand what the characters are saying. Both Fassbender and Cotillard are fantastic in their roles – brilliantly capturing their characters’ ambition and descent into madness. However, occasionally Shakespeare’s poetry gets lost in the boldness of the production, and the characters’ rely on facial expressions and physical actions to capture the inner-turmoil. Also, Fassbender’s accent occasionally slips into a Kerry lilt, which upsets power of the scenes from time to time.

Some of the other characters are brilliantly portrayed, with Sean Harris’ giving a harrowing and powerful turn as the enraged MacDuff, and as the movie comes to a fantastical, incendiary conclusion as his armies move on the mad King Macbeth, the audience will be left gasping for air.

A bold and ambitious production of the classic which, while it may not be the most easy to understand, certainly leaves a lasting impression.