Films > Film Reviews

Macbeth

04/11/15

It is impossible to leave Macbeth without a sense of its texture: damp, clinging mist; thick, starchy cloth; oily blood on the battlefield. Whilst Shakespeare plays tend to attract lofty musings on the human condition, director Justin Kurzel’s version hones in on the sensory muck. The drama is all felt in the body- with animal shock and fever charging through each scene.

Sound is perhaps its most striking feature, sustaining the bellowing atmosphere throughout. The opening battle scene is particularly memorable. Booming, bowel-like drums express the very essence of war- that of soil and fear and discarded bodies. It is also the dialogue that creates this effect, deep Scottish voices making Shakespeare’s words even more foreign and lyrical. The dialogue is almost an extension of the soundtrack, less of a narrative force, more of an aural experience. Perhaps the film will be more enjoyable to those who are familiar with the play, as it is much more rewarding to sit back and enjoy the onslaught of atmosphere rather than focus on plot.

Fassbender’s performance must not go unmentioned. He is magnetic, churning up a masculine savagery that reaches right to the core of our anti-hero. His transformation from dutiful warrior into a crazed, jealous King, is mastered with subtlety. Cotillard is just as engaging as Lady Macbeth, the serpentine whisper in his ear throughout, goading him through his descent. She is however given a sympathetic dimension, alluding to the grief of their lost child. One of her final scenes is filled with an almost religious sadness, as she prays, weeping, to the vision of her infant.

There are only a few points where the tone feels slightly out of sync. Modern devices such as time-lapsing and Star Wars-style opening credits err on the side of jarring, but are not overdone as to spoil it. Rather, they act as a reminder that this is an ancient tale expressed within contemporary cinema, and the Kurzel’s decision to embrace this is admirable. The play’s supernatural elements are also given a new, more earthy spin. Ghosts and witches are part of the landscape as much as the imposing highlands, yet the effect is not that of mysticism or fantasy, more of a primordial truth that has since been forgotten.

Visceral, alluring and brave, this film stays true to the play’s spirit whilst stepping boldly into an unknown terrain. Prepare to be swept away by a stylish retelling that seems to take any pressures of adaptation in its stride.