What was done, was done well.

Rating: 8/10 (2 October 2015)

The world of William Shakespeare can be a tricky road to navigate, especially if you are not educated in his tediously difficult language that arrogantly lies in waiting, sprawled across the pages of his many plays. If you are neither a Thespian or English Literature Graduate (which I am clearly not), you will struggle to understand the famous playwrights narrative. It just might be easier to learn French or German at the local community college than it is to painfully study what Shakespeare is actually trying to say. I have seen just a handful of the Elizabethan era writers work; the tragic love story of Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar and the very puzzling comedy, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Each time I came away scratching my head, my feeble brain trying its best to piece together the events that had actually taken place. Through all the confusion, I still found myself enjoying the fragments of dialogue and story that made sense to me. This is why I was drawn to another of Shakespeare's great tragedies, even though I knew I would be sitting through nearly two hours of theatre without the use of subtitles.
Macbeth is a well known story of ambition, murder, rage and tyranny but what I was looking for in Justin Kurzel's interpretation was a connection that an uneducated sloth like myself could get from a tale that had four hundred years of retelling. I wanted to feel the characters emotions and I wanted to visualise their world. I wanted to be able to identify Macbeth's tragic blind ambition and lust for power. More importantly, I wanted a tangible belief in the story being presented to me.
Kurzel knows his audience well because he has directed one of the greatest Shakespearean plays ever put onto film. The brutal and bloody world that Kurzel has visioned, creates an authentic and powerful atmosphere that never deserts the viewer, allowing the famous story to illustrate itself effortlessly across the screen. Half the battle is won. Accompanied by an outstandingly appropriate score sets the scene for a film that would not look out of place amongst the very best movie releases this year. The eerie and sombre acoustics help keep the audience fixed to their seats as the savage tragedy of Macbeth unfolds in all its brutal glory.
Michael Fassbender (Macbeth), plays the character to perfection and it is his performance alone that makes it easier for the common man to understand Shakespeare's historic language. Fassbender is thoroughly engaged in his role and every word he delivers oozes emotion. Marion Cotillard is equally impressive as the conniving Lady Macbeth. Cotillard was an interesting choice to play the femme fatal, but she has proved here that she can rise to any challenge. This performance is a very colourful feather in a exceptional cap. Her Lady Macbeth helped me to realise that she became somewhat of a victim to the King she had created. "What is done, is done." I am quite sure that she didn't envisage her warrior husband to become the tyrant that he became. Adding to the list of superb performances is Sean Harris, the vengeful and savage Macduff, who is hell bent on ending Macbeth's reign as the Scottish Monarch. Great little cameos by David Thewlis (King Duncan) and Elisabeth Debicki (Lady Macduff), along with brilliant visionary direction by Justin Kurzel will give the uneducated hordes a chance to witness one of Shakespeare's masterpieces.