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‘Macbeth’ Review: Savage beauty

Oggs Cruz

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‘Macbeth’ Review: Savage beauty
Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard star in 'Macbeth,' directed by Justin Kurzel

In the very crucial scene in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth where Lady Macbeth sleepwalks while muttering about a “damned spot” that won’t disappear, director Justin Kurzel brazenly opts for a close-up of the tormented queen’s face.

It’s quite an odd creative decision. The scene speaks volumes about the growing guilt of Macbeth’s wife, who once criticized the nature of the future tyrant of Scotland for having “too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness,” yet Kurzel does away with garish dramatics and instead relies on the strength of Shakespeare’s words that are delivered by Marion Cotillard with such disquieting passion. Kurzel forces the viewer to probe the face of a contrite accomplice who chooses an empty chapel to deliver her heartfelt confession.

It’s a powerful scene, one that allows Lady Macbeth, who is perhaps the most tragic figure in this most famous tragedy, a compelling bid at redemption or at least understanding, notwithstanding her most unforgivable crimes. 

Humanizing the tyrant

Kurzel’s Macbeth, while adamantly loyal to Shakespeare, is littered with scenes like Lady Macbeth’s poignant submission to her disgrace that tweak the original text a certain way to turn the play’s tragic figures into human beings who are acting not out of cruel fate but of emotions. His adaptation is one whose soul is geared more towards despair that brash ambition can only temporarily repair. It is sympathetic to sinners, without necessarily altering the source material.

 

Macbeth, played with astounding gravity by Michael Fassbender, is called upon by the King to defend his domain. He wins the battle but in the process, loses his son. He then chances upon mysterious witches who prophesy that he will be rewarded with a new title and will then be crowned king. The witches’ prophecy stirs dark ambitions within the hearts of Macbeth and his wife, resulting into their descent towards madness.

Shakespeare opens his play with the 3 witches, foreshadowing the evil that is to be committed by Macbeth. Kurzel, on the other hand, opens his film with the funeral of Macbeth’s son. By allowing the loss of a loved one to eclipse the role of cruel fate, Kurzel gives Macbeth an emotional ground for which to anchor his depraved acts. He humanizes the much-maligned tyrant, turning him from a pawn of the witches’ malicious designs and into a slave of grief, which is an emotion shared by all humanity and outside the realm of superstition.

Sumptuous visuals

Kurzel’s Macbeth is such a savage thing of beauty.

Cinematographer Adam Arkapaw’s camera carefully capturing the brutal thrusts of swords against struggling bodies, all in glorious slow motion which seems to ascribe the brutal scenes a certain grotesque grace. The quieter moments are equally sumptuous, with Kurzel indulging in depicting the untouched landscapes of medieval Scotland with ominous mysticism. Indoors, everything is suffocating under the weight of all the characters’ schemes and machinations.

Accompanied by Jed Kurzel’s sparse but effective musical score which complements the exquisite cadence of Shakespeare’s verses, the film’s arresting visuals are never just empty eye candy. There seems to be an absolute absence of comfort, which ingeniously adds heft to the adaptation’s thematic bleakness. 

Staying close to Shakespeare

Kurzel’s Macbeth is bookended with scenes of unabashed brutality. It is a film that toils in showing men killing men. However, it skirts away from simply delighting in all the cruelty and savagery that it shows with unparalleled elegance. It digs deeper, adorning the unfortunate tale of a man and a woman whose melancholy gave birth to chaos.

Kurzel’s Macbeth does not need to stray far from Shakespeare. It does not need to modernize the language or separate the text from its primal setting. All it needs is a unity of intent, to have all creative forces, from the performers to the craftsmen, assist to realize the seemingly impossible mission of humanizing archetypes of human frailty and ambition. – Rappler.com


Francis Joseph Cruz litigates for a living and writes about cinema for fun. The first Filipino movie he saw in the theaters was Carlo J. Caparas’ Tirad Pass. Since then, he’s been on a mission to find better memories with Philippine cinema. Profile photo by Fatcat Studios

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