*****
Haunted by a prophecy spoken to
him on the battlefield, and encouraged by his wife, Macbeth embarks on a bloody
and disastrous mission to secure the title of ‘King’ for himself.
Doubtless we have all sat through
hours of Kenneth Branagh’s faithful adaptions of his playwright hero, and, yes,
these are good films, but when an entirely new, fearless interpretation of a
classic text comes along, it is a beautiful thing. Justin Kurzel’s Macbeth might not quote Shakespeare word
for word, but it somehow feels more in-keeping with the gothic, tragic elements
of the text than any other adaptation to date. This is a story of death, blood,
tragedy, obsession, guilt and fear, and using remarkably few of Shakespeare’s
words, Kurzel is able to create a gripping story. Michael Fassbender is
Macbeth, a man of war, fatigued by years of fighting and haunted by the
memories of those who died on the field alongside him. He is weary, curious at
the words of the Weird Sisters but also too tired to make them real… until he
is spurned on by his wife (Marion Cotillard). Cotillard is excellent in this
role, the driving force behind the initial murder, but then the weeping figure
as her husband’s actions spiral out of control. On screen, Fassbender and
Cotillard make an engaging, formidable pairing, the camera lingering long on
their faces to catch their whispers. Indeed, this is not a film of screaming
soliloquies, but rather understated speech, making the tale seem even more
desperate.
As a piece of visionary
film-making, Macbeth is outstanding.
Whilst comic book films have used slow-motion frames to excess, here it feels
necessary and chilling: mouths open in long, silent screams; smoke swirling
almost motionlessly across the vast and menacing landscapes; and Macbeth’s face
looking long into the horizon as death mounts around him. The wide landscape
shots help to cement us in a wide and rugged setting, where the characters are
as treacherous and changeable as their land, flooding the senses with dread and
foreboding. If this was not Shakespeare’s vision then it should have been – it is
as bleak, cold and as desolate as the story itself. Vivid colour palettes of red,
yellow and orange are used to striking effect, off-setting the grim browns and
greens and creating some very emotive images throughout the film. The music,
too, is haunting throughout, from the whine of string instruments, to the
pounding of drums and voices, we are not able to escape the horror that Macbeth
has thrown himself into.
Surprisingly short, and yet all
the better for it, Kurzel’s Macbeth is
an adaptation like no other before it. Taking only the most important parts,
and stripping away the excess, Kurzel has created a taut and gripping film
about one man’s descent into bloody madness, and the horror that comes with it.
The film never allows you to feel comfortable – at any moment there could be a
dramatic change of image, instrument, colour – that leaves you positioned on
the edge of your seat.
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