Stunning Grandness

Rating: Null/10 (18 January 2016)

Macbeth (2015) is as straightforward as a film adaptation of a Shakespeare play gets. Although the production and cinematography is undeniably rich and stunning, the real highlight is still the tragedy and language of the play. To those who are looking for a grand epic as the promotions suggested, it might disappoint them, though again it's all visually stunning, the movie doesn't let the action and warfare be just action and warfare. Just like the story, it's all about the tragedy, the cruelty and consequences. And it does them right with a perfectly bleak and grim tone, anyway. With performances that really spice up the scenery, Macbeth is an impressive piece of cinema.
The movie mainly starts with a battle, but the real focus of that bombastic start is the atmosphere driven by the violence happening, even if they eventually won the war. Then Macbeth found three witches denoting that he will be king. This leads him to ambition and this ambition turns poison until he fulfills it as a tyrant. It's basic stuff, but again, as a Shakespeare play, it's all about the language. The visuals speaks through evident bleakness, but the dialogue speaks through madness. And it's actually quite effective, compellingly shows how their world crumble and so forth.
The film allows the monologues to define these characters and the recipe for that is the leading actors. Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard seem they are born to be in this material; Fassbender brings the complexity of Macbeth while Cotillard brings the madness that she nearly steals the show. The supporting are also quite impressive filling up among the leads. The direction is downright stunning. Sure, it's basically just allowing for the language to flow, but the visuals just looks tremendous. There's a sense of grandness within this production, while the redness of the backdrops just fits on how harrowing things may get.
Macbeth isn't the most overwhelming approach, again it's just too straightforward, but the story still is impacting enough, staying faithful on the text of Shakespeare. It embraces the mood, it focuses on the theme; if anything, the acting and the production is what makes it special, bringing grandness on the dialogue presented. To those who may be seeking for an epic, chances are there fights that is good looking, but then they aren't particularly action scenes. They're drama and really tremendously delivered drama. And that's how simple as this adaptation get.