Hardly one for the masses.

Rating: 4/10 (9 October 2015)

Let me begin by saying I'm not a fan of Justin Kurzel's new screen version of "Macbeth". To be honest I found it something of an endurance test. This is a 'Macbeth' shorn of swathes of Shakespeare's poetry. Nothing intrinsically wrong with that; shortening Shakespeare or making him more 'user-friendly' I can deal with, (oh that Kenneth Branagh had taken the hint with his bum-numbing 4 hour HAMLET), but this is a 'Macbeth' basically comprised of nothing more than a bloody battle, (shot mostly in slo-mo), followed by one murder after another, (not since Alan Clarke's TV film ELEPHANT, about the Northern Ireland troubles, have I seen a film so given over to killing), and by stripping it down to its bare bones Kurzel robs it, not just of the poetry, but the plot as well.
Unless you are very familiar with the play it becomes almost impossible to tell who is who other, of course, than the Macbeth's who are, at least, centre screen most of the time. Fassbender isn't really up to the part but Cotillard is outstanding even if her role seems to be sidelined. No-one else makes much of an impression. On the plus side Adam Arkapaw's dark, 'naturalistic' cinematography is excellent but Jed Kurzel's dirge-like score does the film no favors at all. Watching this will take more out of you than climbing Ben Nevis.