Macbeth (2015) [Blu-ray]
Drama | War

Tagline: All hail Macbeth that shall be king.

Macbeth is a fearless Scottish General whose ambitious wife urges him to use wicked means to gain power of the throne. A thrilling interpretation of one of Shakespeare's most famous and compelling characters, Macbeth is a dramatic re-imagining of the realities of war-torn times and a tale of all-consuming passion and ambition.

Storyline: Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, March 12, 2016 Director Justin Kurzel, whose previous works include the acclaimed Snowtown and whose upcoming projects include the cinematic adaptation of the Assassin's Creed video game series, revives anew one of the most heralded of all of William Shakespeare's works, Macbeth. Packed with brutal combat, sweeping Scottish vistas, elegantly refined photography, lyrically delivered prose sourced directly from Shakespeare's hand, and several remarkable performances in key roles, Kurzel's film is an instant classic in the Shakespearian cinematic canon, a gripping, powerful adaptation that's as authentic as it is creative, a film that's as deeply enveloping as the source material is dramatically engrossing.

Macbeth (Michael Fassbender), Duke of Scotland, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife Lady Macbeth (Marion Cotillard), Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.

While one can literally follow Kurzel's Macbeth word-for-word with the original Shakespeare, its lyrical faithfulness to the source is hardly its finest asset, though it is obviously the single most important driving factor behind the movie. The performers do not simply recite the words, and neither do they do so with manufactured flair for the dramatic that often seems more a comedic trope of Shakespearean adaptation and less an authentic stab at finding any given story's purpose and depth. This take on Macbeth finds, through its masterful performances and its technical merits alike, a command of flourish blended with that depth, a richness of purpose and a breadth of scope of meaning to the material that accentuates the source, that drives home its emotional content and more profoundly explores its dramatic nuance. Fassbender, Cotillard, and the assembled cast are magnificent, appearing wholly authentic to not only the superficial character details but also the inward driving forces that are no longer simply words on a page but living, breathing, fluid, tangible concepts and raw human emotions. Indeed, in Macbeth, the story finds an added layer of palpable authenticity to its rhythmic prose, elevating the text on the page with an almost equally precise physical embodiment.

The film's construction is practically beyond reproach. It's a raw, gritty film, a movie that's tattered and weathered, chilly and bleak, and all the more gorgeous for it. It boasts an incredibly dense atmosphere, a thickness that gives weight to the story and the characters, as well as both the crude plot lines and the emotional depth that comes from them. It's refined in its roughness, a resplendent period piece accentuated by not only its broader costume and set design details but also a canvas on which every last detail seems carefully apportioned and placed. The result is a movie that's as visually rich and refined as Shakespeare's original writing. The film enjoys an organic flow, tremendous pacing, and a beautiful score. Character accents are particularly thick, but the movie's ability to convey story meaning and purpose as much through its own visual acumen as through Shakespeare's prose largely negates that negative. The visuals and words work so well in tandem, are so complimentary, that by full absorption into the film the audience won't lose any key dramatic insight by any language barrier.

Macbeth is a masterful film. It's one of the finest Shakespearian adaptations in some time, a movie that's equal parts faithful to its source and creative in its visual support mechanisms and machinations, a truly complimentary marriage of cinema and written prose in every sense. Performances are stellar, production design is superb, music is great, and the photography is spellbinding. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of Macbeth is unfortunately short on meaty extra content, but video and audio qualities alike are outstanding. Highly recommended.

[CSW] -2.5- Well it was certainly very artistic and certain parts were just gorgeous. However there is not much more to recommend Macbeth. Performance wise there is nothing to complain about as everyone did a great job. I watched this movie with subtitles, which helped. The landscape shots and the soundtrack gave it this 1800s western quality to Scotland and the production was exceptional at working with sunrise and smoke, dirt and scabs. I admire them using Shakespearean language. My problem is the pacing of the movie. I admit to having a little confusion over it, too. The movie is a weird blend of realism and the fakeness of Shakespeare rhymes and monologues. But I imagine this would be good for high school teachers to show after reading Macbeth.
[V4.5-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box.


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