Stage-to-screen review: Macbeth (See-Saw Films)

Once again a quiet August sees me throw a few screen versions of stage plays into the mix, and as the 2015 version of Macbeth is about to expire on Netflix I thought if I was going to bother with it at all I'd better get on with it. Set very much in the grubby middle ages of the story's inspiration, Justin Kurzel's film opens with the titular couple burying a child, so we can get that particular clichéd misreading of the text out of the way early on. To be fair this is only really offered as an explanation for Lady Macbeth's (Marion Cotillard) actions, as Macbeth's (Michael Fassbender) seem very much motivated by PTSD and the general bloody ruthlessness of the times: The action properly begins with the gruesome battle he leads to victory; it's actually during the battle that he first spots the three witches (who are seemingly Romulans?) who'll eventually prophesy his rise to the throne of Scotland.

In this brutal world it seems like a logical next step for him to usurp that throne rather than wait for the prophecy to be fulfilled, by murdering King Duncan (David Thewlis,) framing the immediate heir and taking his place. But once in power both he and his queen start to lose hold of their sanity, and rival factions stir to get rid of them.

Despite the dim and foggy cinematography this is still a version more interesting in its visuals than its language: Macbeth and Banquo (Paddy Considine) meet the witches while they're clearing up the bodies of their own dead soldiers, establishing them as men who, however murderous, begin the story respectful to their fallen men and willing to muck in. The idea that this is what traumatises Macbeth is seen in the way he's particularly haunted during the film not by any ghost mentioned in the play, but by a vision of a particularly young-looking soldier (Scot Greenan) he had to bury; this is who will later carry the hallucinated dagger and be the mouthpiece for the witches' second set of prophecies.

Another thing I found interesting is the suggestion that nobody's nefarious deeds are done particularly discreetly: Some dialogue is moved about to have Macbeth all but admit to Malcolm (Jack Reynor) that he killed his father, threatening and prompting him to flee Scotland. One of Banquo's soliloquies is repurposed as a speech to Fleance (Lochlann Harris) that implies he's willing to take his own action to make the other part of the prohecy - the part that gives the crown to his own heirs - true, and therefore Macbeth's murder of Banquo becomes more of an act of self-preservation. Most grimly, Macduff's (Sean Harris) family are publicly burned at the stake by Macbeth rather than dispatched underhandedly.

It's a film about people touching each other's faces, apparently

This isn't an adaptation that focuses much on the idea that Macbeth ends up becoming a particularly brutal tyrant who needs to be disposed of, more that this constant violent struggle for power is the norm, and we're just witnessing one cycle of it. This is highlighted at the end, which Shakespeare leaves with Malcolm in power, but the prophecy still hanging that the crown will eventually belong to Fleance and his heirs: The man and child take up swords for what probably won't be a peaceful offscreen transfer of power.

Where the film completely fails to be interesting is in the text speaking: It's impossible to comment on anyone's performance as they've all clearly been instructed to speak every line in a whisper-growl, like Batman. It's not a particularly clear way of delivering the meaning of the words, and it gets dull to listen to pretty quickly (the sound design in general tends towards a monotonous hum.) Still, Fassbender does deliver the line "making the green one red" with the emphasis where I think it should go, which doesn't happen often, so that's something. Not entirely style over substance as there are some ideas at play here, but once again I'm left wondering how easily someone unfamiliar with the story could have told it back to you based on this alone.

Macbeth by William Shakespeare in a version by Todd Louiso, Jacob Koskoff and Michael Lesslie is streaming until the 31st of August on Netflix in the UK.

Running time: 1 hour 55 minutes.

Photo credit: Studiocanal.