Head-to-Head: The Macbeths

Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard played Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in the 2015 adaptation directed by Justin Kurzel, respectively.

Kurzel's adaptation of Macbeth is frankly one I'm not so crazy about. It's very clearly style over substance in its directorial approach, which works in some instances like the execution scene of Lady Macduff, but in my opinion this approach makes for a missed opportunity since the script is actually written very well, and of course there's some pretty good performances in it too.

Michael Fassbender I'll admit is not one of my absolute favourites as an actor, I like him but frankly find him a bit overpraised for some of his dramatic turns in 12 Years a Slave and Shame, and particularly in Steve Jobs. The main reason I get so annoyed about his Oscar nomination for Jobs isn't that he's particularly bad at playing the guy there, it's just that in the same year just begging for a nomination was his far, far, far superior turn as the Scottish King. The Bard's words just flow so beautifully from his mouth, and for once the adopting of a Scottish accent doesn't hinder the performance at all. He somehow manages to attune it perfectly and makes lines like 'Oh, full of scorpions is my mind' sound just, well, awesome. There's so much to the initial conception of this performance, from the worn-out gaze to the gradual progression of his physical manner as he approaches his downfall. Strictly speaking Macbeth is a mostly reactive character, but that's a good thing in this case, as Fassbender never gets lost in the excessive direction of Kurzel and manages to develop an incredibly compelling arc for his Macbeth which is not so much hero to villain as it is a disillusioned man who's suffered great losses, who manages to find one small modicum of pride in seizing the thron only to find it torn away from him. His release of his pent up fear and anger is so brilliantly done, and I have no qualms in calling this his best performance.

Cotillard's  one of my favourite actresses, but I must say that on my first watch of the film her performance left me a bit cold, mostly due to her approach to the language. I appreciate the choice of accent but I never quite feel like she gets the hang of Shakespeare as well as Fassbender does. It's ever so slightly stilted at certain parts, but thankfully I do feel on re-watch that the other aspects of her performance more than make up for this. She takes a pretty subtle approach actually to the character in making Lady Macbeth not so much a predatory femme fatale as I thought she'd do, but rather as more of a sneaky opportunist, looking for any way possible to move up in the courtly setting. She makes up for the few scenes where she seems a bit lost (which might've been the directorial intent anyway) with some of her best scenes, like her reaction to Lady Macduff's execution which is classic Cotillard stuff, and of course her sleepwalking scene. Overall, this is far from Cotillard's best performance, which isn't saying much because she's probably the best actress working today, and this is still a very strong performance.

Fassbender: 5/5
Cotillard: 4.5/5

Ian McKellen and Judi Dench played Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in the 1978 adaptation directed by Trevor Nunn, respectively. 

This is essentially a filmed stage version of Macbeth, which stylistically speaking is just all-round solid, nothing particularly notable to speak of in terms of stylistic touches but I do quite like it, and in particular love one, no two, aspects of it. 

It would be a crime to call Trevor Nunn's direction of this production as 'workmanlike' even if the production itself does feel a bit standard, because of the simple genius of casting two of the great Brit thespians Judi Dench and Ian McKellen in two of British theatre's greatest characters of all-time. I mentioned the over-stylized approach of Kurzel earlier because of this adaptation which I think shows how it's best to approach a great play like Macbeth which is to pare everything down to a minimalist approach, bar the script and of course, the acting. Without any distractions, McKellen and Dench are permitted to flourish in the role with their immeasurable talents and boy do they both knock it out of the ballpark.

McKellen, I'm sure we all know, is quite possibly the undisputed king of the Shakesperean word, and yes I would place him as an equal to Laurence Olivier, so sue me. Anyway, I don't think I have to go too much into McKellen's great performance beyond showing some clips here as really, I can't elaborate much more over it than it's a very 'seething' portrayal of Macbeth, if that makes any sense. He sort of takes a John Hurt-esque approach as opposed to a McKellen-in-Richard III and King Lear larger-than-life approach to the character, in that he doesn't shy away from the weak-willed, somewhat pathetic side to Macbeth, and finds the perfect balance between showing the brimming insanity of the King and the inner remorse of the man. 

Dench is also tremendous. I feel with the limited time I have now I can't quite do her portrayal justice with this post, so I'll once again leave it to another time.

McKellen: 5/5

Dench: 5/5

Jon Finch and Francesca Annis played Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in the 1971 adaptation directed by Roman Polanski

This is another output of Macbeth which is style over substance, I have to say I'm not a fan of filmmakers feeling the need to mask an incredible play and script with such style, when the substance is already more than enough to provide meat and depth, why add unnecessary ingredients to the mix?

I'll be fairly brief with Finch and Annis since I feel their performances are along the same lines. Both actors technically play the roles just as they should. Finch is prim and proper enough in the initial scene and does well to show the increasing forcefulness and selfishness of the king as the film progresses. Annis is suitably alluring and quite good in showing the unsavoury qualities beneath the alluring-ness. The only problem I have with this though is that it doesn't make the film terribly compelling. Far from bad but it just feels a bit lacking in that extra 'X-factor' throughout. I used to like the film and performances a lot more but watching the likes of Fassbender, McKellen, Dench and to an extent Cotillard have compelled me to bump these two down a bit in my valuation.

Finch: 3.5/5

Annis: 3.5/5

Toshiro Mifune and Isuzu Yamada played Taketoki Washizu and Lady Asaji Washizu, effectively Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, in Throne of Blood

Throne of Blood is an incredibly effective film of Akira Kurosawa's, who with my viewing of this film has now usurped the trio of David Lean, David Lynch, and the Coen Brothers as my all-time favourite directors (sorry Davids, Joel, Ethan). As is to be expected by Kurosawa it's amazing in terms of production and set design, and manages to within a compressed running time tell the whole story of Macbeth with such compacy, effective attention to detail. 

Now I hate to disappoint but I'll hold onto Mifune's performance for a bit. He is AMAZING. It's far from being a usual performance as Macbeth, well because he's not playing Macbeth exactly in the strictest Shakespearean sense, he doesn't have any monologues in the usual way, but instead relies more upon a very swift, striking use of his screen presence to establish Mifune as an Emperor. Now this is Mifune we're talking about, he's got tons of screen presence to spare, but beyond that he meticulously crafts out an inner sensitivity within Washizu as he shows beneath the powerful exterior, and like McKellen shows how he's so easily manipulated due to these hidden ghosts. As the film progresses Mifune's gradual progression into unhinged rage and passion is quite something to behold and I think I'll leave my further thoughts to the inevitable future review of all the performances of Mifune in Kurosawa films I've seen (I'm nearly finished with all of them, just need to watch The Quiet Duel, The Idiot and I Live In Fear). 

I'll talk a bit more about Yamada though. Yamada's portrayal of Lady Macbeth is certainly unlike any before, in fact even more so than Mifune in her distinctiveness. The whole way that her Lady Washizu is made up from the costume design to make-up, and her physical portrayal of kind of a literal snake-person, is so incredibly effective in establishing the audience's sympathies decidedly against her. She's established as someone the audience will love to hate as she's just incredibly despicable with each moment of her performance. Her still, deathly quiet approach to her callousness that just sizzles with an underlying ambition to her quietude plays perfectly alongside Mifune's blustering approach, and makes her the perfect foil to her husband's foolishness and easily manipulative nature with her incisive delivery, and that undercurrent of manipulation that's beneath every word she speaks. Yamada maintains this demonic stillness to her characterization up till the points where she breaks free from these restraints to show what lies underneath. It's so disoreintating and disturbing to watch Lady Washizu lose her shit, pardon my French. It's a great arguably one-note performance that Yamada gives that reminds me in more ways than one, and in a good way, of Miranda Richardson in The Crying Game. Both actresses give great portrayals of magnificently horrible people but also add the right amount of nuance to sidestep ridiculousnes, and revel in a chilling impact.

Also, don't watch if you haven't seen the film yet, but how brilliant is this ending?