![]() In this Macbeth, the only convincing that he needs is to be told how to murder the King while he thrusts inside her. Seeds are planted, I suppose, but they aren't psychological. Eventually, scorpions do befall Macbeth's mind, but it never seems as though his mind wasn't a nest of scorpions to begin with. In the text, Lady Macbeth ruthlessly undermines Macbeth's manhood upon his return and asks to be un-sexed so that she too can be as ruthless as her vision of a real man. After reading his note, she pleads in solitude for all the wickedness to find Macbeth, expunge the kindness in his heart and allow him to do whatever needs to be done to take what is now rightfully theirs. Lady Macbeth's "milk of human kindness" line is uttered, but we never witness any evidence kindness or righteousness from this warrior. He sends word to Lady Macbeth ( Marion Cotillard) of their premonition and an advance call to rejoice. But the dead don’t have to like it.After an exceptionally bloody battle that turned the tide of Scotland's civil war, Macbeth and his servant ( Paddy Considine) encounter witches who foretell of Macbeth's ascension to the throne. What’s done is done, as Lady Macbeth says in futilely trying to reassure her husband. In this regard, Paddy Considine is especially well-cast as the doomed Banquo, Macbeth’s longtime friend who comes to an unsavory end. The score from the director’s brother, Jed Kurzel, adds to the pervasive feeling of unease string-heavy and rather rustic, it enhances the eeriness of both the prophecies of the witches and the lingering of the dead. He’s already a shell of his former self at this point, and Fassbender makes his character’s despair as powerful as his ambition. And later, Macbeth seems to be in a dreamlike state himself during the discovery he makes in the “ Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow” monologue, delivering his lamentations about “sound and fury” with neither of the above. Lady Macbeth’s guilt-riddled “Out, damned spot” soliloquy comes in the form of an early-morning, misty-white sleepwalk, her oft-quoted words a mere whisper in the sacred stillness of a spare chapel. Australian director Justin Kurzel tackles Macbeth with a few narrative tweaks and a whole lot of visceral violence. But in an intriguing contrast, while the scale of the battles and the scenery is enormous and awe-inspiring, some of the more famous moments and lines arrive in understated fashion in intimate spaces. If you’re not already somewhat familiar with Shakespeare’s tragedy, this incarnation isn’t about to go out of its way to provide much context or explain why certain characters matter. This is a massive oversimplification, of course-and Kurzel’s “Macbeth,” adapted by Jacob Koskoff, Michael Lesslie and Todd Louiso and running just under two hours, does feel a bit truncated. ![]() None of this goes down as easily as he’d hoped. (Kurzel’s version actually gives us a fourth witch for fun.) His miserable and driven wife urges him to expedite the process by killing King Duncan ( David Thewlis) and seizing the crown for himself. In case it’s been a while since high school English class, or since you’ve watched previous film adaptations of “Macbeth” by Roman Polanski or Orson Welles: In 11 th-Century Scotland, the great warrior Macbeth, Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from three witches that he will be king someday. Cotillard, meanwhile, has an otherworldly quality that makes her menacing-a quiet intensity in those enormous eyes and a standoffishness that makes her seem unpredictable, even though we’re all-too aware of the devious plot her Lady Macbeth has in store. Still, the danger that lurks beneath his lean, cool good looks gives his Macbeth an especially unsettling air. Fassbender has made a career out of playing complicated, tormented figures, in movies ranging from “ Hunger” to “Shame” to “ 12 Years a Slave.” The murder and madness of Macbeth are his bread and butter. This “Macbeth” also grabs you with the charismatic presence of its two stars, Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard. ( Adam Arkapaw, the cinematographer, also shot the great Aussie indie “Animal Kingdom” as well as Kurzel’s debut feature, “Snowtown.”) The look of it is so richly rough-hewn, you’ll feel as if you could reach out and touch it, even as the characters’ actions become increasingly repulsive. Chunks of mud and drops of blood fly across bleak, gray skies and craggy highlands in super slow motion.
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