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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Macbeth (2015) in Movies

Aug 6, 2019

Macbeth (2015)

2015 | International, Drama

4.5

(2 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Directed by Justin Kurzel, the 2015 release of Macbeth stars Michael

Fassbender

as Macbeth and Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth.

There are a ton of blood and guts in this movie. Many of the action

scenes have slow-motion insets, which for me were better than the jerky

camera movement of the close-up fighting scenes, but still felt weird

inside the film.

This is the traditional Macbeth story-line, with the typical language of

the original play. The accents of most of the actors were very heavy,

making it quite difficult to follow the actual dialogue.

I was able to follow the story because I know the basic premise of

Hamlet (who doesn’t?) but if I hadn’t basically known what the story was

about, and had to rely solely on the spoken words in the film, I would

have been dreadfully lost.

Marion Cotillard plays a very good conniving, plotting Lady Macbeth, and

Michael Fassbender does a great job of portraying a manipulated, power

hungry man, being driven mad by his atrocities.

The supporting cast gave great performances as well. The three witches

were played by Lynn Kennedy, Seylan Baxter, and Seylan Mhairi Baxter.

They were sufficiently creepy and mysterious to add the right amount of

darkness to their roles, without overpowering the concept that had

Hamlet interpreted their predictions differently, the entire story may

have gone differently.

There were parts of the movie that I held my breath at, and felt myself

responding emotionally to, but it would be very hard NOT to feel some

sort of emotion at watching a family being burned at the stake at the

whim of a mad-man.

If I were a die-hard Macbeth or Shakespeare fan, I likely would have

enjoyed the film far more. On the other hand, a die-hard Shakespeare fan

probably would have been upset at some of the pieces that were trimmed

from the famous lines of the original (“something wicked this way comes”

was noticeably absent)

Overall I would give this movie 2 out of 5 stars, based on the hard time

I had understanding the dialogue. If I had been able to not have had to

concentrate so hard to understand what was being said, I would have

given it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Kudos

Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Restless Genius

Leo Damrosch

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

The extraordinary life of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the eighteenth-century literary genius who changed...

Dana (24 KP) rated Hamlet: Text of the Play, the Actors' Gallery, Contexts, Criticism, Afterlives, Resources in Books

Mar 23, 2018

This is the third or fourth time I've had to read this for my classes, and I have got to say, it does not disappoint! I love how I am able to catch new details each time I read it.

This time I focused on Ophelia and her "madness." I have some theories about why she acts mad, and that it is not necessarily her losing control, but gaining it in her own way. This is the first moment where she is able to act on her own in the whole play. The first time that she does not have a male controlling all of her actions.

I love being able to see the different interpretations of the play both on stage and on the screen. The to be or not to be speech will always be one of my favorites.

This is in my top three favorite Shakespeare plays of all time because of the intricacies in the plot and the characters. I can't wait to get to study this again with a new professor to get different insights on the play itself.