#2015 macbeth

There is hardly any reliance on the text, and I realize adaptations of Shakespeare have that freedom, but here’s the kicker - the visual language does not make up for the immense paring down of the play’s text. The artsiness of it all just serves to obfuscate any meaning or any real emotional connection to either the characters or the events of the plot. Instead there was a heavy reliance on panoramic shots of Scotland’s gorgeous landscape (while making sure to make it feel as lonely, dark, and sad as fucking possible, which is just a fucking disservice) and stylized battles that served no narrative purpose. The music drowns out the lines, which are already growled and whispered and muttered most of the time, which takes away any sense of modulation that brings in real emotion. I was not convinced that anyone really felt what they were playing. Lady Macbeth’s madness scene was the most boring fucking thing in existence, and I could not muster any sympathy for her. Acting and narrative were scarificed on the altar of camerawork and scene setting, rather than using those things to enhance the story.

WHAT KIND OF CHOICE IS THAT???

In this version, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have an infant/toddler that they lost. The funeral is the first fucking scene of the whole movie, which imbues it with a lot of significance. Right? Wrong. I’ll explain why in just a sec. There is also a boy that Macbeth prepares for battle against the rebels shortly after this initial scene. We don’t know who this boy was. Could he have been an older son? Could he have been an orphan Macbeth took under his wing? No one else seems to claim him. The visual language of the film makes it clear that Macbeth feels a fatherly bond for the boy, who is killed in battle. Visions of the dead children pop up a few times, it is one of the very few visual motifs of the movie (one of its significant downfalls), but they never tie into anything of significance. If their deaths are a motivation for the couple, it is never made clear how. It mostly emphasizes how bleak and miserable the world is.