Macbeth Month: 2015 -the Kurzel One

 “Macbeth shall never vanquish’d be until
        Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane hill
        Shall come against him.”
                                                    -Act IV, scene i, lines 92-94
 

Justin Kurzel’s 2015 adaptation of Macbeth is at this point pretty obscure. It came and went very fast, was a box office flop, and though it garnered some positive critical notice it wasn’t nearly enough for the movie to last in much public memory. The fact that the director and lead actors immediately went on to make the Assassins’ Creed movie you’ve also forgotten about probably doesn’t help matters. But I quite liked it when I saw it six years ago, to the point it made one of my first top ten lists. I don’t think I would agree with that assessment now, if only because I’ve seen more movies from that year that are better, but it’s still pretty good as a modern Macbeth goes -if cut down and simplified a touch.

This movie certainly owes something to Polanski’s version, namely in its’ high commitment to historical realism and violence. This Macbeth though has something that one lacked: style. It is bathed in strong aesthetic choices of a kind not really seen since Welles’ version. And these don’t always work, the slow motion in some of the battle scenes feels a bit trite for example, and the ambiguous nature of the witches has the effect of making their scenes dull -but more often Kurzel’s approach heightens the moodiness of the story -this being another version that links the tragedy of Macbeth to a kind of ancient natural order as in Throne of Blood. As you can see, there are bits of each of the other movie Macbeths I’ve seen embedded in this one, yet Kurzel still gives it a distinct style –for sure it’s a colourful one. His obsession with red certainly gives the film a richer look than just about any Macbeth up to this point, and I’m glad he’s not so concerned with realism as to avoid choices like creating a blood-red fog for the climactic battle. It makes no logistical sense but is probably the films’ greatest visual sequence, up to perhaps the final confrontation where the bloodiness of Macbeth and Macduff is an overdone distraction -Sean Harris spitting blood with his “untimely ripp’d” line.

Michael Fassbender plays his Macbeth as a stoic warrior, in some scenes almost Viking-like. This film doesn’t adapt the play strictly –in fact it omits several swaths of dialogue for either scenes of action or solemn pacing, so Fassbender’s Macbeth seems more introverted and internal, but all the same more dangerous. Fassbender is great at playing villains, he’s got that devilish twinkle in his eye and a duplicitous smirk. His physical performance is tremendous if his dialogue choices are occasionally underwhelming. Particularly that final soliloquy is disappointing, as he performs it over his wife’s dead body, face away from camera and in a muted tone. However, the Banquo’s ghost scene he recites better, with a rapt disbelief turning to fury. Marion Cotillard, the only performer not using a Scottish accent (wisely), is likewise a great Lady Macbeth, and certainly underrated as far as the character on film has been represented -she might be my favourite thus far. She’s believably conniving, commands authority through quiet influence, and does the madness with a restraint that suits the tone of this film. Her death scene on the moors is also inspired. A great supporting cast fills out the production, with Paddy Considine as Banquo, Sean Harris as Macduff, Jack Reynor as Malcolm, Elizabeth Debicki as Lady Macduff, and David Thewlis as Duncan -all of whom do well, with Harris and Reynor perhaps standing out most -I’ve never seen a Malcolm with that much screen presence before.

This is the only version of Macbeth I’ve covered to actually shoot in Scotland and it makes gorgeous use of the highland scenery. In spite of an opening text giving historical context, it’s a choice that effectively consigns the story to the realm of myth better than any version since Throne of Blood. The gravity of the tale is accentuated in this. It should also be noted, the cinematography by Adam Arkapaw is excellent, gritty yet textured. My complaints with the film mostly stem in stuff that is left out, elements that are truncated, and a few artistic and production choices that I feel could have been better. But ultimately it’s a pretty good version of Macbeth, and a great stylistic counterpart to what this next Joel Coen-helmed adaptation looks to be. I’m excited!

This last Macbeth was shot largely outdoors and on a large scale. The adaptations have come a long way from the cheap interior Macbeth that Welles made back in 1948. We began with a Macbeth full of fake Scottish accents and have ended on one also full of fake Scottish accents -but slightly better ones this time. It’s always thrilling to see new spins on Shakespeare, new interpretations on the classic stories and characters. Macbeth through film has evolved and stayed the same, each new director and performers finding the aspects of the story they connect with most creatively. Welles, Finch, McKellen, Stewart, Fassbender, even Mifune are all playing the same character but in different ways -and I look forward to Washington joining the line-up.  This was a strange theme month; it went from Japan, to the annals of a problematic filmmaker, and even to the stage, but I liked the journey. I like seeing the versatility of this material. It’s a good reminder of just why the Bard is so immortal. 

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