DVD Review: Macbeth

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A gifset film...

Macbeth (Michael Fassbender) receives a prophecy that he'll one day become the King of Scotland. His wife, (Marion Cotillard) is on board with this and pushes him to take matters into his own hands, he murders the current king to take the throne, however nothing is that simple.

I read this play in high school, but it was very forgettable. As I was watching this film, some things would come to me. I remembered why I forgot it in the first place; it's pretty damn bleak. The film clearly chose style over substance, which brings me to the title of this post.

This film looks like an extended series of gifsets. They do great things with color and scenery, and all the things I'd expect to see while scrolling through tumblr. It's like this film's only purpose is to be seen in these small, yet beautiful frames by themselves, with nothing to tie them together. 

The dialogue is at times very hard to understand, Fassbender and Cotillard are excellent actors who don't seem to actually be trying very hard. Maybe they realized the film wasn't exactly relying on their performances? The director didn't seem to pay them much mind, so why try? 

Aesthetically, it's gorgeous. Albeit a bit pretentious at times. I was hoping to be proven wrong about Macbeth. That I didn't remember the story because my taste in high school was terrible, but this film did nothing but disappoint me. 

Recommended: No

Grade: C

Memorable Quote: "We'll not fail." - Lady Macbeth (Marion Cotillard)

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 27, 2016 at 7:16 AM

    ...

    Cotillard delivers one of my favorite performances of the year here. The way she goes from devious dominance to the complete awareness of having taking things to far, fear of where it will go next and then abandonment of her future because of that crushing guilt.

    But I can see not being happy with the overall film. It is hard to connect with at times, especially because of hard it can be to follow, but it's masterfully shot and Cotillard slays.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamApril 27, 2016 at 7:45 AM

      I felt like Cotillard phoned it in hard. I love her and I know she's capable of so much greatness, but I didn't get that here.

      Delete
    2. AnonymousApril 27, 2016 at 1:51 PM

      So many tears on my face right now.

      So many!

      Delete
  2. thevoid99April 27, 2016 at 7:44 PM

    I still want to see this as I love that story as I've seen 3 versions of it so far. One by Orson Welles, another by Roman Polanski, and Akira Kurosawa's own interpretation in Throne of Blood.

    ReplyDelete
  3. s.April 28, 2016 at 12:40 PM

    I thought Fassbender and the cinematography + music were excellent but Cotillard was all over the place because they had no idea what they wanted to do with her character

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamApril 28, 2016 at 2:24 PM

      The cinematography was the only thing pulling me in on this one. lol

      Delete
    2. s.April 29, 2016 at 10:09 AM

      I saw it in the movie theatre and the only thing keeping me engaged was the need to read subtitles and thinking 'what the fuck are they talking about?' I never read subtitles in theaters but here all the lines went over my head

      Delete
    3. Brittani BurnhamApril 29, 2016 at 1:08 PM

      I actually turned the closed captions on as well and this was in my native language. lol

      Delete
  4. msmariahApril 28, 2016 at 11:13 PM

    I heard they made Lady MacBeth pretty weak in this adaption. I remember reading the play in high school. Lady MacBeth was the most interesting character in a somewhat dull play. I've been very disappointed with the reviews of this one. I figured Fassy would get to be super angsty in this film.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamApril 29, 2016 at 6:56 AM

      Like Sati said, I don't think they quite knew how they wanted her to act. It was very unmemorable.

      Delete
  5. RuthApril 29, 2016 at 12:08 PM

    I haven't reviewed this yet but I'm glad I'm not the only one not in love w/ this one. I REALLY want to like this but it was just so tedious. 'Beautiful but boring' is what a filmmaker friend of mine who saw it with me said, and that's exactly it. It was an entirely forgettable affair.

    ReplyDelete

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