MACBETH (2015) – The Review

Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard deliver gripping performances in a dark, atmospheric and bloody MACBETH. While this dark, bloody film is powerful, this film should not be one’s first introduction to Shakespeare’s classic, as a significant amount of the play itself is missing. No boiling cauldron and “double, double toil and trouble” open this version of the Scottish play, although the three “weird sisters” appear after a battle with their prophetic pronouncements. It is more an updated interpretation than the definitive screen adaption but still a must-see for fans of the Bard, as well as a worthy addition to the film canon of his works.

Brooding, bloody and filled with ghosts, director Justin Kurzel’s MACBETH takes place in a ruggedly beautiful landscape, creating a film that is visually striking. As the film unfolds, the screen often suffused with red, and landscapes take on increasingly darker tones. Battle scenes, reveling in muddy and blood in a way that recalls BRAVEHEART, and memories of battle figure heavily in this version, set in foggy Scottish moors and a mountainous, windswept landscape.

The script by Jacob Koskoff, Todd Louiso and Michael Lesslie captures the gritty violence in the tragedy thoroughly but the opening cauldron scene is not the only familiar one left out or significantly changed, making this a film more based on the play than a more pure film version. The film focuses most strongly on scenes with MacBeth himself, played powerfully by Fassbender. More than anything, this is Fassbender’s film. MacBeth’s own ambition figures more heavily in driving events than magic from the three witches or influence from politically-scheming allies or even Lady MacBeth. Still, the scenes between Fassbender and Cotillard are gripping, fiery stuff, and Cotillard in particular delivers a riveting performance.

A brief screen of text at the start sets the stage for the story, and replaces some information from missing scenes. It tells us how General MacBeth (Fassbender), Thane of Glamis, leads the army of the beleaguered King Duncan (David Thewlis) against rebellious forces in a last-stand battle and emerges with a surprise victory. The overjoyed king comes to visit his general, bestowing on MacBeth the title Thane of Cawdor, fulfilling the witches’ prophecy that MacBeth and his ally and kinsman Banquo (Paddy Considine), who also predict MacBeth will be king and, MacBeth being childless, Banquo’s descendents there after.

In this dark film, dead children are a reoccurring presence. The films opens with a Highland funeral, with blond-haired toddler on a pyre and the couple mourning, presumably, the death of their child. Shakespeare’s play presents the couple as childless but makes clear that Lady MacBeth has given birth to at least one, in the chilling speech in which she urges on to carry through in their plan to kill King Duncan. There is another child who figures heavily, a teen boy lost in battle. Both children return as visions, in some of the most haunting scenes of the film.

Among the most dramatically striking scenes is one between MacBeth and Lady MacBeth, shortly after they have been crowned king and queen. In their high-vaulted royal bedroom, MacBeth speaks in threatening manner to his wife about their childless state, a startlingly different interpretation of the scene. Both Fassbender and Cotillard are electrifying in this scene. Fassbender frequently is praised for his outstanding work, even in lesser films, but hopefully this complex, moving performance will give Cotillard more of the recognition she deserves. Her final scene is presented in an even more unusual fashion but she brings layers of despair and loss to the scene that adds immensely to its power.

While the acting is marvelous, the missing scenes and frequent dream-like sequences of ghosts and battlefields gives the film a kind of fitful feel, rather than one of sustained drama. Still, one cannot fault the outstanding cinematic style of this MACBETH, which succeeds admirably in creating mood. While its truncated version means it should be no one’s introduction to the play, this re-imagining offers some powerful scenes and dramatically gripping performances, making it worth the trip to the theater.

MACBETH opens in St. Louis on Friday, December 11th, 2015.

OVERALL RATING:  4 OUT OF 5 STARS