Macbeth - film review
Apr. 3rd, 2016 04:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatFunky weather continues. It was 71 degrees on Thursday and Friday. Sixty yesterday. Today, it's in the 30s, with a wind chill of 20 degrees and high winds. There's a wind advisory all day today, fifty-sixty mile per hour winds, so I decided to stay in and hibernate. They will be plenty wandering about the city next week. I want a day off to lay about and do next to nothing.
It's pretty though. Clear crisp blue skies. The tree outside my window has burst into bloom - all rusty red leaves, below are bushes bright with yellow flowers. But if the temperatures continue jumping up and down like this...everyone is going to get whiplash.
Worked a bit on my novel, took a nap, did some yoga stretches, and watched Jason Kurtz's Macbeth, which I'd borrowed from DS, but alas didn't enjoy nearly as much as she did. Frankly, I found it bit boring, and my attention kept wandering. This is the version that stars Michael Fassbender and Marion Cottard, who are good in it, but I liked him better in Steve Jobs. Here, he seems a bit too understated, as if he is walking through molasses. It very well could be that I've seen Macbeth one too many times and don't find the story all that compelling. Feel sort of that way about Shakespeare in general -- it's been over-done. Of course, I've studied, seen, and read Shakespeare since I was roughly twelve years old...so after thirty some years of it, yes, it could get a bit stale.
That said? It has some lovely visuals. And an interesting direction - Kurtz chose minimalist and realism, hyperrealism. It's set in Scotland, medieval times, mostly on the battlefield. The color scheme is white, black, greys, and reds. The performances are understated. Lady Macbeth's "out damn spot" monologue is delivered to a ghost of a child in a church, while tears stream quietly down her cheeks. She's not moving. Wrapped in a grey clock, as the light filters through the church. Her voice soft, and sort of one note. It's quite creepy actually. And MacBeth's "Tommorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow..." monologue is delivered to Lady Macbeth's corpse, which he drags around the room like a stringless puppet, overcome with grief. Usually these speeches are delivered in hallways.
The three witches aren't really witches, but three women who stand as witnesses to all his deeds.
They cut the double, toil, and trouble speech from the play. Along with most of the humor. Which may well have been my problem with it. Not that Macbeth has much humor, being a tragedy.
Overall, I was a bit disappointed. My friend loved it though and continues to rave about it. So, eh, mileage varies.
It's pretty though. Clear crisp blue skies. The tree outside my window has burst into bloom - all rusty red leaves, below are bushes bright with yellow flowers. But if the temperatures continue jumping up and down like this...everyone is going to get whiplash.
Worked a bit on my novel, took a nap, did some yoga stretches, and watched Jason Kurtz's Macbeth, which I'd borrowed from DS, but alas didn't enjoy nearly as much as she did. Frankly, I found it bit boring, and my attention kept wandering. This is the version that stars Michael Fassbender and Marion Cottard, who are good in it, but I liked him better in Steve Jobs. Here, he seems a bit too understated, as if he is walking through molasses. It very well could be that I've seen Macbeth one too many times and don't find the story all that compelling. Feel sort of that way about Shakespeare in general -- it's been over-done. Of course, I've studied, seen, and read Shakespeare since I was roughly twelve years old...so after thirty some years of it, yes, it could get a bit stale.
That said? It has some lovely visuals. And an interesting direction - Kurtz chose minimalist and realism, hyperrealism. It's set in Scotland, medieval times, mostly on the battlefield. The color scheme is white, black, greys, and reds. The performances are understated. Lady Macbeth's "out damn spot" monologue is delivered to a ghost of a child in a church, while tears stream quietly down her cheeks. She's not moving. Wrapped in a grey clock, as the light filters through the church. Her voice soft, and sort of one note. It's quite creepy actually. And MacBeth's "Tommorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow..." monologue is delivered to Lady Macbeth's corpse, which he drags around the room like a stringless puppet, overcome with grief. Usually these speeches are delivered in hallways.
The three witches aren't really witches, but three women who stand as witnesses to all his deeds.
They cut the double, toil, and trouble speech from the play. Along with most of the humor. Which may well have been my problem with it. Not that Macbeth has much humor, being a tragedy.
Overall, I was a bit disappointed. My friend loved it though and continues to rave about it. So, eh, mileage varies.
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no subject
Date: 2016-04-04 07:19 am (UTC)"nods"