Macbeth [DVD]

One of the best Shakespeare films made in modern times. Captures the rugged nature of Medieval Scotland through a fabulous use of locations. The wardrobe is excellent, the cinematography is beautiful, the Shakespearean acting is second to none. Watch on a rainy day with a lit fire and feel yourself immersed into the film.

A lot of people have given very negative reviews, which has left me rather puzzled....... Fassbender is magnificent, as is the entire cast, cinematography, music, and direction. The issue here for those who didn't like it, I think, is the even tone throughout. No hollywood-style shifts between scenes, landscape (pretty much everything looks threatening and brutal), atmosphere, or indeed anything that breaks the bleak world we are observing, and the equally bleak ethos. Even the violent and brutal moments, bloody as they are, sit firmly within that landscape and are part of that even tone I mentioned . Anyone looking for typical Hollywood tropes will be sorely disappointed, and instead of trying to dazzle and spoon feed its audience, this film demands their full attention. Whilst visually breathtaking, enough space is given to the dialogue and the casts emotive/narrative interpretation of Shakespeare's words. If you aren't a fan of his plays, this film is unlikely to change your mind. I wonder if that is why so many people didn't like it? Shakespeare is not for everyone, and I don't say that in a patronising way before you think I'm a snob. In its temporal setting, murder for power and control was indeed a mundane and visceral one, and the brutality and sudden violence was a fundamental aspect of that era. Some have commented on this brutality as being a negative aspect of the film, but I am struggling to see what would replace it. Anyone wanting "Die Bard" or similar will be disappointed by this - that is not to denigrate films that are entertaining and fast-paced, but this is different and as such one should enter this with a open mind. A lot has been cut from the original text, so purists will no doubt be shouting form the rooftops about that fact. However, the funeral of the couples child (not in the original play) creates an intriguing backdrop to the actions that follow, and serve to highlight the subtle (and not so subtle) references to family and children throughout. The execution scene was a good example of this, and as a result Lady Macbeth's subsequent demise was fuelled by more than just guilt at the Kings murder. For this viewer, it hits it pretty much all of the targets. Each to their own, but I hope that expectancies can be left by the door and you can just indulge not only in an acting tour de force, but an intriguing, beautiful and visceral interpretation of my favourite Shakespeare play.

Ooooh, so close. Pretty much the entire film is absolutely beautiful to look at except for the end sequence, which is simply far too red. So it is with the adaptation overall : a great deal of it is done very well indeed, but other parts are strangely flawed. The acting is spot on. Macbeth is simultaneously a grieving father, a warrior, a leader of men yet racked with doubt, a gracious host and a foul murderer - and he's utterly convincing as all of these. How full of scorpions is his mind indeed. Lady Macbeth is absolutely the complex and sinister villain you'd expect from the role. It's worth repeating how beautiful the cinematography is. So for the positive sides you've got some damn fine actors spouting gobsmackingly beautiful Shakespearean dialogue in the gorgeously dark and barren highlands of Scotland. All this makes it well worth watching. But... sometimes it feels a little too up itself. The director seemed to forget he was telling a story and concentrated on winning awards at Cannes. Some of the more melodramatic scenes have been toned down or cut out altogether. Most notably, there's no "fire burn and cauldron bubble" speech. The "witches" are just ordinary people who live in a field. OK, I get how you would tone things down to interpret the play, but it's just a little too much. Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking scene also feels just a bit odd. She's just sat on the floor delivering a soliloquy whilst doing precisely nothing. That's not how I pictured the scene at all. Too often the characters seem to be talking to themselves when they should be interacting with each other. Rather a lot of dialogue appears to have been cut from the play which probably shouldn't have been, leading to some oddly long silent sequences, especially at the start. Lots of quiet brooding here when there should be more explicit emotion. More interactions needed. It's like the goal was to try and blur the line between the soliloquies and the ordinary interactions - if so, this is a failure. Which is not to say that the film doesn't do a darn fine job when it's being a bit more conventional. And why is it that Macbeth, a nobleman and commander of the royal army, lives in a small wooden hut in the field ? He can't even afford to give Duncan a room, so he has to sleep in a tent. That just seemed... odd. Even so, it's a fine piece of work overall.

Blood and guts version of the Scottish play. The best features are visual, with good use made of the lowering Scottish countryside (though some scenes are filmed in Northern England). Fassbender is a suitably macho Macbeth, but handles the introspection well. Marion Cotillard does well enough but does not dominate the film enough – probably not her fault. The witches, all too easily a laughable aspect, are presented effectively with the addition of an eerie child. It is difficult to understand large parts of the text due to the large variety of accents and intonations on display. The final scenes are well staged, and the interpolated opening scene helps makes sense of the rest of the story. Worth watching as an adaptation, but there are better ones available on film.

From the start, the characters are strong, and the sets and lighting draw you into this familiar and dark tale. I loved the way the music is gently layered, so as to build the tension. The cast is nothing short of stellar. Each playing their role, in the rise, and subsequent fall of our ill fated protagonist. This has always been my favourite of Shakespear's works... but this production has made me fall in love with it all over again. I even found myself hoping for a different outcome, a twist? But alas, bad life choices are Macbeths speciality. If you are a horror story fan, this is a beautiful blood soaked murder-fest, served on a solid silver platter.

This is an historical play loosely based, by Shakespeare, on this Scottish lord. The dvd is magnificent – the scenery which is so darkly beautiful, the sense of foreboding, the scenes of battle etc. But of course, it is Shakespeare’s genius’ in the characters he creates who always stand out and make us discover something new about ourselves. In this story, Lady Macbeth swears that she would murder a beloved son for her husband to take Duncan’s throne when Macbeth refuses to kill the king. How many husbands are driven by ambitious wives? There is one thing that is puzzling – why was a French actress chosen to play Lady Macbeth? All in all, however, it is a most entertaining film and my wife and I have watched it quite a few times since we bought it.

I don't really know the story of Macbeth (to my shame), I was drawn to it by reading Macbeth, by Jo Nesbo, from the Hogarth Shakespeare series where current authors re-write the plays into modern times. Whilst reading that I read a synopsis of Shakespeare's Macbeth. The book by Jo Nesbo really pulled me in and through that I wanted to delve a bit deeper into the original story. When I studied Shakespeare at school I really struggled to read them and follow them. I have tried to read some of the plays as an adult without much success. So I thought a good way to get to know the story was by watching film and stage adaptations. Bear that in mind (ie my lack of knowledge!) when reading my review. I loved this adaptation. It gripped me from beginning to end. Yes, you could argue that it was slow, and the music annoying, but I found both those aspects added to the sinister feel of the film. The scenery was amazing and the acting was outstanding. I believed in every character and found Fassbender and Cotillard mesmerizing. The cinematography was perfect. I will definitely watch other adaptations and look forward to the differences, but for me this was outstanding.

I have seen this film in the cinema , and on Netflix, the dvd is a "keeper" - for me it's a brilliant adaptation of Shakespeare's play , excellent acting , well crafted filming to create the atmosphere of the age.