Film No. 66 (2015) Macbeth. 17th September.

Film No. 66 (2015) September 17th.  6.30 PM LUNA Paradiso, Northbridge. 

"All full of scorpions is my mind" (Macbeth explains his state of mind to his wife at the height of his powers).

 

I have to admit to being skeptical about the transporting of Shakespeare's work to film when there are two script writers involved. I'm thinking, hasn't this already been written by the great man himself?

 

A director who decides they want to fiddle faddle around with some of the greatest prose ever, is asking for the sort of trouble our brave King of Scotland is seeking when he decides to kill off the reigning king based on the advice of three witches. Australian director Justin Kurzel (Snowtown) however provides us with a solid re-telling of this famous tragic tale and it is not just the performances of Fassbender (Macbeth) and Cotillard (Lady Macbeth) that pave the way, he has employed some gritty methods.

 

Making films based on  Shakespearian classics is all important due to Shakespeare's prominence in school curriculums throughout the world. Therefore the technique for telling a story like Macbeth's needs to be concise and visually engaging. Although maybe a little too Readers Digesteque for my liking from a text POV the visual feast is sumptuous. The fiercely cold windswept backdrop pricks our senses as effectively as any theatre production could. 

 

Then there is the casting. The electricity between Macbeth and his good lady cannot be faked when retelling this story. Get the two leads wrong and disaster looms. Cotillard is magnificent and Fassbender is very good. Perhaps I'm being hard on Michael but he does hog the screen in his unnerving way, so the calm, calculating persona of Marion ignites the story. Young scholars will lap this version up, which is important to the continued retelling of such treasured prose. 9GUMS