Another Ascends to the Bloody Throne: A Review of Macbeth (2015)

directed by Justin Kurzel
written by Jacob Koskoff, Todd Louiso and Michael Lesslie

William Shakespeare's tale of treachery, murder and absolute power corrupting absolutely gets a fresh treatment in 2015 courtesy of director Justin Kurzel and stars Michael Fassbender as the title character and Marion Cotillard as his scheming wife. Paddy Considine plays Macbeth's faithful colleague Banquo, David Thewlis plays King Duncan and a very capable bunch of British actors including the bad guy from the latest Mission Impossible movie round up the cast of supporting characters.

Bringing Shakespeare's work to screen is always a challenge, and whoever does it, and at least attempts to do it well usually deserves kudos just for the effort, but Kurzel deserves a huge pat on the back here for getting one of the finest young actors of this generation to play one of literature's most infamous villains. The story of a lord who thirsts for power when his destiny is revealed to him by three mysterious old women is one that has been done several times over, but what Fassbender brings to the table is something very special.

Since taking the Magneto role in X-Men: First Class, which was more of a tortured anti-hero than anything else, Fassbender has gone full-on bad guy in films like 12 Years a Slave. Here, his malevolence is tempered by the madness and paranoia that overwhelms the murderous Scot when he realizes the people he has to kill to consolidate his hold on power. It's a nice, meaty role for Fassbender to sink his teeth into, and I daresay he makes the most out of the opportunity.

It's a rather spartan production; the colors are muted and just about everyone is dressed in black, white or gray; the sets are simple and unobtrusive, and at the end it's really down to the actors, mainly Fassbender and Cotillard, to carry the proceedings, which they do quite well.

I don't consider myself a Shakespeare buff or expert by any means, and perhaps it was this that makes me view this film as successful in telling the story, which is told in an English that is no longer spoken. It's worth noting that the distributors had the courtesy to put subtitles for all the dialogue. I doubt this will win over the blockbuster crowd, but as an exercise in effective storytelling this is a very good one.

8.7/10