Macbeth

Certificate – 15

Directed by – Justin Kurzel

Starring – Michael Fassbender; Marion Cotillard; Paddy Considine; Sean Harris; Jack Reynor; Elizabeth Debicki; David Thewlis.

Running Time – 110 Minutes (1 hour 50 minutes)

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Justin Kurzel has seemed to have done the impossible and made one of Shakespeare’s most famous dramas brought up to date for the Braveheart/Game of Thrones generation. Whilst staying loyal to the original text and the complexity of the characters.

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If you somehow haven’t seen or heard of Macbeth, it’s a story of three weird women prophesy of brave warrior Macbeth (Fassbender) becoming king of Scotland, thus planting the seeds of treachery, murder and ultimately madness lead by his lady (Cotillard).

Fassbender performance was phenomenal as we can see Macbeth going darker and crazier, but the 38 year old actor also brilliantly turned him into a sympathetic character which made him feel more human.

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The same goes to Cotillard, who was also phenomenal, as she was able to bring sympathy and simplicity to one of the most famous and complex female characters in literature.

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Kurzel brought a visually stunning and fresh adaptation by turning Shakespeare’s most famous dramas into a bloody, muddy war-epic while being able to make the original text feel modern and up to date.

It’s great to see these three elements working well and gets me even more excited for their next project as Kurzel is directing Fassbender and Cotillard in Assassin’s Creed.

I hope they bring cinematographer Adam Arkapaw to be a part of the team because he delivered a visually stunning movie. Using dark colours like grey, black, blue and orange really turned the Scottish landscape into such a forceful presence and made it feel like a character itself.

The supporting cast were also outstanding, especially Paddy Considine and Sean Harris who were incredible.

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Verdict

Kurzel delivered a strikingly beautiful war-epic adaptation with outstanding performances from the lead and supporting cast. This film will be shown in schools for years.