Macbeth (2015): Movie Review

Macbeth, 'The Scottish Play', a piece that needs few introductions, has been through many film adaptations over the generations. Let's recap just a few:

The BBC TV Drama. This was regarded as a very orthodox performance of Shakespeare's play. I remember watching it as part of the obligatory high school course on it. Find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0LrdOa7uZQ

Ian McKellen's performance, with Judy Dench as Lady Macbeth, from '78. You can also check out other clips where McKellen discusses the best way to pull off some of the harder soliloquies, but the main footage is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpKWWK0Pj34

Patrick Stewart has also been Macbeth. I couldn't find the full movie on youtube, but here's a clip where he delivers the famous 'tomorrow, tomorrow...' after learning of his wife's suicide. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZnaXDRwu84

There are so many other wonderful adaptations of the renowned play, and they are easy to find. Of course, the latest adaptation of Macbeth has just come out in cinemas everywhere, and it features Michael Fassbender in the lead role, with Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth. I've been really excited about it. Firstly because it's a great tragedy, so great in fact that you're forced to learn about it in school(!). Secondly because I am such a big Fassbender fan - he was amazing in such films as Inglorious Basterds, Prometheus, even Xmen: days of future past. Thirdly... the visuals in the movie trailer were so amazing. If you haven't seen the trailer, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqHhKuCQmoY

 My review of the new movie:

The cinematography didn't disappoint, neither did the music. The amazing thing about Shakespeare is that you can sit down and just read the words, the pure text--and still get something out of it (http://shakespeare.mit.edu/macbeth/full.html). Having the scenes seamlessly stitched together with the beautiful backdrop of Scottish scenery and a mournful, atmospheric score went even further to delivering the import of the story. The lonely and desperate vibe was just what the doctor ordered to supplement the predicament of the characters.

Then there were the acting performances. Obviously Fassbender and Cotillard led the way in terms of skill--if they hadn't been stealing the show, they wouldn't have been cast. But I was distracted by the fact that most of the other actors were genuinely Scottish. Fassbender is German, Cotillard is French. It's hard to ignore that fact if you've seen other movies they've been in. So as a result, the guys playing Malcolm, Ross, Siward etc... all come across as more compelling in terms of making you feel like you're watching something in a coherent setting. Having said that, Mr and Mrs Macbeth are such distinct characters, they go mad, and perhaps it's more fitting for them to 'stick out' from the crowd in a variety of different ways including their facial features, mannerisms, and accents.

Personally, my standout pick in this movie was Macduff, played by Sean Harris. He brought it all--the emotion, the energy, the accent. Macduff is the one going from standstill hanging out at Macbeth's premises, to discovering the murdered Duncan. He later receives the news of his family's brutal murder, then resolves hatefully to destroy Macbeth. I thought he was flawless.

As mentioned earlier, this is a classic, it's been performed so many times before and by so many different casts. When you watch the latest adaptation, you are watching to see how faithful they are to the original spirit of the text--or not. You certainly feel yourself doing that during this movie.

But....

You're also constantly being surprised with the innovations that this rendition brings to the table. It's a balancing act--keeping intact the things that work best when intact, while taking license to make it into a slightly different and newer story at the same time. This makes sense to me. If you set out just to stand some contemporary actors on the Scottish highlands and have them read the original text, you're likely to be rewarded with quite a forgettable result.

Spoiler alert: even though you know what happens in the Macbeth story, I'm about to discuss some things that this film may have intended to surprise you with.

Macbeth and his Lady don't have kids of their own. The original play alludes to this. However, the movie brings the fact further into the foreground. Instead of using the three witches for the opening scene, a new prologue is slapped in there, where the Macbeths are having a funeral for their dead child. Later, when Lady Macbeth is delivering the 'Out, damn spot!', she is hallucinating a vision of that same child. It's rather creepy. In committing suicide, she goes to the witches, who in the new film are insinuated to have more effect on the story than their classic plot device suggests.

Banquo's son Fleance is in his teens or even a 'young adult' when you watch other film adaptations. Shakespeare has some lines for Fleance. The new movie has it that Fleance is actually a much younger child, younger than 10 for sure, and his dialogue is scrapped. For me it was an immense change--for the better. Banquo's character becomes far more honorable and fatherly, and Macbeth's decision to send assassins for him comes across as even more chilling. Speaking of chilling, the scene where Fleance has to watch his dad get cut up by the thugs really killed me. The kid actor delivered a performance that had nothing short of a physical effect on the audience.

Macbeth is finally undone when the English send an army with Malcolm and Macduff to take him out. Classically, the prophesy begins to fulfill itself when they cut the trees and walk them up the hill. In the new adaptation, they simply burn the forest and it's the ashes of the trees floating up to the castle that satisfy the prophesied condition. Not a big deal, but it does allow the art direction to include a glowing orange backdrop to the final fight sequence.

There are so many other little nuances that they bring. I will let you discover them for yourself. For me, this movie really lived up to expectations--and they were high from the outset! I would watch it at the cinema a second time. I will probably buy the DVD. Long live Macbeth.