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''Macbeth'' is a 2015 epic
historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...
film directed by
Justin Kurzel Justin Dallas Kurzel (; born 1974) is an Australian film director and screenwriter. Early life Kurzel was born 1974 in Gawler, South Australia to a family of immigrant roots, his father hailing from Poland and his mother from Malta. His you ...
and written for the screen by Jacob Koskoff,
Todd Louiso Todd Louiso (born January 27, 1970) is an American film actor and film director best known for his role as timid record store clerk Dick in '' High Fidelity'', opposite Jack Black and John Cusack. Career Louiso directed his first film in 2002 ...
and Michael Lesslie, based on
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's play of the same name. The film stars
Michael Fassbender Michael Fassbender (born 2 April 1977) is an Irish actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and nominations for two Academy Awards, four British Academy Film Award ...
in the
title role The title character in a Narrative, narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The ...
and
Marion Cotillard Marion Cotillard (; born 30 September 1975) is a French actress, film producer, singer, and environmentalist who is widely known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters in both European and Hollywood productions. She has received ...
as
Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth is a leading character in William Shakespeare's tragedy '' Macbeth'' (). As the wife of the play's tragic hero, Macbeth (a Scottish nobleman), Lady Macbeth goads her husband into committing regicide, after which she becomes quee ...
, with
Paddy Considine Patrick George Considine (born 5 September 1973) is an English actor, director, and screenwriter. He frequently collaborates with filmmaker/director Shane Meadows. He has received two British Academy Film Awards, three Evening Standard Britis ...
,
Sean Harris Sean Harris (born 1965/1966) is an English actor and writer. He played Ian Curtis in ''24 Hour Party People'' (2002), Micheletto Corella in '' The Borgias'' (2011–2013), Fifield in ''Prometheus'' (2012), Solomon Lane in '' Mission: Impossib ...
,
Jack Reynor Jack Reynor (born 23 January 1992) is an Irish-American actor. His notable roles include the films '' What Richard Did'', '' Transformers: Age of Extinction'', ''Glassland'', ''Macbeth'', '' Sing Street'', and ''Midsommar'', as well as the seri ...
,
Elizabeth Debicki Elizabeth Debicki (born 24 August 1990) is an Australian actress. After studying drama at the Victorian College of the Arts, she made her film debut with a brief role in the Australian comedy ''A Few Best Men'' (2011). Debicki's role in Baz Lu ...
and
David Thewlis David Wheeler (born 20 March 1963), better known as David Thewlis (), is a British actor, author, director and screenwriter. Thewlis rose to prominence when he starred in the film ''Naked'' (1993), for which he won the Cannes Film Festival Aw ...
in supporting roles. The story follows a Scottish lord's rise to power after receiving a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Like the play it was adapted from, the film dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake. ''Macbeth'' premiered on 23 May 2015 at the
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
where it was selected to compete for the
Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
. The film was theatrically released by
StudioCanal StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., Canal+ Production, and Canal+ Image and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film production and distribution company that owns ...
on 2 October 2015 in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and on 18 November 2015 in France. It received generally positive reviews from film critics who praised both Fassbender and Cotillard's performances, as well as those of the rest of the cast, visual style, script, direction and war sequences. Despite the positive critical reaction, the film grossed just $16 million worldwide against its production budget of $20 million.


Plot


Act I

The film starts with the Macbeths grieving at their child's funeral. Then, Macbeth leads King Duncan's troops into a civil war battle. He emerges victorious, despite losses, including boy soldiers. Three women with a girl and infant approach Macbeth and Banquo, hailing Macbeth as
Thane Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra, India. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven talukas ...
of
Cawdor Cawdor ( gd, Caladair) is a village and parish in the Highland council area, Scotland. The village is south-southwest of Nairn and east of Inverness. The village is in the Historic County of Nairnshire. History The village is the location of ...
and future King, and Banquo as a father of Kings, before disappearing.


Act II

Duncan hears of Macbeth's victory and executes the Thane of Cawdor for traitorously allying with Norse invaders, giving Macbeth his title. Macbeth tells his wife of the prophecies. Lady Macbeth prays to the dark spirits for guidance. When Macbeth says Duncan will stay overnight, she urges him to kill the King to fulfill the prophecy. A feast is held, where the King pronounces Malcolm his heir. Macbeth hesitates but Lady Macbeth persuades him to kill Duncan while she drugs his servants. After the feast, Macbeth sees a boy soldier's ghost, who gives him a dagger and leads him towards Duncan's tent whom Macbeth slays. Malcolm enters and, seeing the body, flees. Shaken, Macbeth goes to his wife, giving her two daggers. Lady Macbeth rebukes him for not leaving them and puts them in the sleeping servants' hands. She meets Macbeth in the church where they wash their hands, saying they have washed their deed away.


Act III

In the morning, Macduff finds Duncan dead and Macbeth slaughters the servants to prevent their denial. Macduff and noble Lennox believe Malcolm's flight is suspicious and admire Macbeth's summary justice. With Malcolm gone, Macbeth is crowned. Afterwards, he sourly complains to his wife that killing Duncan was for nothing as Macbeth has no heirs, so the crown will pass to Banquo and his son, Fleance, as prophesied. He invites them to a banquet but discovers they plan to leave, as Banquo is suspicious. Macbeth sends assassins: Banquo is killed, but Fleance escapes. During the evening, Macbeth mentions Banquo not attending as promised. Macbeth asks the assassins for news and is enraged that Fleance has escaped. Then, Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost. Afraid, he talks to it. Lady Macbeth says her husband is unwell, but Macbeth continues to rave, prompting Macduff and his wife to leave. Lady Macbeth dismisses the guests and takes Macbeth away.


Act IV

Macbeth talks to the witches. They show him a vision of slain soldiers who tell him to beware Macduff, and that Macbeth shall be King until
Great Birnam Wood Birnam is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is located north of Perth on the A9 road (Great Britain), A9 road, the main tourist route through Perthshire, in an area of Scotland marketed as ''Big Tree Country''. The village originated f ...
comes to the royal castle at
Dunsinane Hill Dunsinane Hill ( ) is a hill of the Sidlaws near the village of Collace in Perthshire, Scotland. It is mentioned in Shakespeare's play ''Macbeth'', in which Macbeth is informed by a supernatural being, "Macbeth shall never vanquished be, until ...
. The boy soldier's ghost who gave him the dagger tells Macbeth that he will not be slain by man born of a woman. The King is found wandering by Lennox who tells him that Macduff has fled. Anxious and enraged, Macbeth orders the death of Macduff's family and servants. The family are
burned at the stake Death by burning (also known as immolation) is an execution and murder method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a punishment f ...
, while a distraught Lady Macbeth watches. Afterwards, she washes the dagger. Meanwhile, Macduff meets Malcolm, who is gathering troops. Ross and Angus inform Macduff about his household's murder. Grief-stricken and angry, Macduff swears revenge.


Act V

Guilt-ridden, Lady Macbeth returns to the church, lamenting their deeds and her bloody hands (in a
soliloquy A soliloquy (, from Latin ''solo'' "to oneself" + ''loquor'' "I talk", plural ''soliloquies'') is a monologue addressed to oneself, thoughts spoken out loud without addressing another. Soliloquies are used as a device in drama to let a character ...
often referred to as " Out damned spot!"). She sees her child's ghost, which she urges to sleep. Then she wanders in the hills and sees the witches. In the castle, Macbeth is rumoured mad, and all fear his anger and
tyranny A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to rep ...
. He is told of his wife's death. Speaking the famous soliloquy, starting "
tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" is the beginning of the second sentence of one of the most famous soliloquies in William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Macbeth''. It takes place in the beginning of the fifth scene of Act 5, during the time when th ...
" (also known by the lines in it beginning "Out, out, brief candle!"), he carries her body in despair. Seyton brings news Malcolm is leading an army and Macbeth demands his armour. Macduff fires Birnam Wood: with smoke blowing towards them, the prophecy is fulfilled. Macbeth sallies out and duels with Macduff. Macbeth is confident, as "no man born of woman" can kill him. Macduff states he was untimely ripped from his mother's womb and, using Macbeth's distraction, stabs him. Macbeth regrets his mistakes, knowing redemption is impossible. Macbeth refuses to bow before Malcolm, allowing himself to be killed. The witches, observing, leave. Malcolm is hailed King and all go to his castle. Malcolm leaves the throne room while Fleance takes Macbeth's sword and charges through the empty battlefield, disappearing into the smoke.


Cast

*
Michael Fassbender Michael Fassbender (born 2 April 1977) is an Irish actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and nominations for two Academy Awards, four British Academy Film Award ...
as
Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
*
Marion Cotillard Marion Cotillard (; born 30 September 1975) is a French actress, film producer, singer, and environmentalist who is widely known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters in both European and Hollywood productions. She has received ...
as
Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth is a leading character in William Shakespeare's tragedy '' Macbeth'' (). As the wife of the play's tragic hero, Macbeth (a Scottish nobleman), Lady Macbeth goads her husband into committing regicide, after which she becomes quee ...
*
Paddy Considine Patrick George Considine (born 5 September 1973) is an English actor, director, and screenwriter. He frequently collaborates with filmmaker/director Shane Meadows. He has received two British Academy Film Awards, three Evening Standard Britis ...
as
Banquo Lord Banquo , the Thane of Lochaber, is a semi-historical character in William Shakespeare's 1606 play ''Macbeth''. In the play, he is at first an ally of Macbeth (both are generals in the King's army) and they meet the Three Witches together. ...
*
Sean Harris Sean Harris (born 1965/1966) is an English actor and writer. He played Ian Curtis in ''24 Hour Party People'' (2002), Micheletto Corella in '' The Borgias'' (2011–2013), Fifield in ''Prometheus'' (2012), Solomon Lane in '' Mission: Impossib ...
as Macduff *
Jack Reynor Jack Reynor (born 23 January 1992) is an Irish-American actor. His notable roles include the films '' What Richard Did'', '' Transformers: Age of Extinction'', ''Glassland'', ''Macbeth'', '' Sing Street'', and ''Midsommar'', as well as the seri ...
as
Malcolm Malcolm, Malcom, Máel Coluim, or Maol Choluim may refer to: People * Malcolm (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Clan Malcolm * Maol Choluim de Innerpeffray, 14th-century bishop-elect of Dunkeld Nobility * Máe ...
*
Elizabeth Debicki Elizabeth Debicki (born 24 August 1990) is an Australian actress. After studying drama at the Victorian College of the Arts, she made her film debut with a brief role in the Australian comedy ''A Few Best Men'' (2011). Debicki's role in Baz Lu ...
as
Lady Macduff Lady Macduff is a character in William Shakespeare's ''Macbeth''. She is married to Lord Macduff, the Thane of Fife. Her appearance in the play is brief: she and her son are introduced in Act IV Scene II, a climactic scene that ends with both ...
*
David Thewlis David Wheeler (born 20 March 1963), better known as David Thewlis (), is a British actor, author, director and screenwriter. Thewlis rose to prominence when he starred in the film ''Naked'' (1993), for which he won the Cannes Film Festival Aw ...
as
King Duncan King Duncan is a fictional character in Shakespeare's ''Macbeth.'' He is the father of two youthful sons (Malcolm and Donalbain), and the victim of a well-plotted regicide in a power grab by his trusted captain Macbeth. The origin of the cha ...
*
David Hayman David Hayman (born 9 February 1948) is a Scottish film, television and stage actor and director, known for his role as DCS Mike Walker in ITV drama ''Trial & Retribution'', as Jonas Franks in BBC period drama '' The Paradise'' and as Brace i ...
as Lennox *
Maurice Roëves John Maurice Roëves (; 19 March 1937 – 14 July 2020) was a British actor. He appeared in over 120 film and television roles, in both the United Kingdom and the United States. His breakthrough performance was as Stephen Dedalus in the 1967 ...
as Menteith *Brian Nickels as
Thane of Cawdor Thane of Cawdor is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. The current 7th Earl of Cawdor, of Clan Campbell of Cawdor, is the 26th Thane of Cawdor. In William Shakespeare's play '' Macbeth'', this title was given to Macbeth after the previous Th ...
*Ross Anderson as Rosse * James Harkness as Angus *Seylan Mhairi Baxter, Lynn Kennedy, Kayla Fallon and Amber Rissmann as the
Witches Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have use ...
*Lochlann Harris as
Fleance Fleance (also spelled Fléance, ) is a figure in legendary Scottish history. He was depicted by 16th-century historians as the son of Lord Banquo, Thane of Lochaber, and the ancestor of the kings of the House of Stuart. Fleance is best known a ...
*
Hilton McRae Hilton McRae (born 28 December 1949) is a Scottish actor, working in theatre, television and film. Career McRae was part of the radical theatre group 7:84 before graduating from the University of Edinburgh, and by 1977 he had joined the Royal ...
as Macdonwald *Scott Dymond as Seyton *
Rebecca Benson Rebecca Benson (born 24 April 1990) is a Scottish actress. She has appeared in the TV crime dramas '' Vera'' and ''Shetland''. Moreover, she appeared alongside Michael Fassbender in the 2015 film ''Macbeth''. Career In 2016, she joined the HBO ...
as Maidservant *Gerard Miller as Macbeth's messenger *Roy Sampson as Doctor


Production

The production company behind ''Macbeth'' is
See-Saw Films See-Saw Films is a British-Australian film and television production company founded in 2008 by Iain Canning and Emile Sherman, with offices in London and Sydney. Their productions include ''The King's Speech'', '' Top Of The Lake'', ''Lion'', ...
; the film was distributed by
StudioCanal StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., Canal+ Production, and Canal+ Image and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film production and distribution company that owns ...
worldwide.


Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
took place over seven weeks in England and Scotland, beginning on 6 February 2014 in
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. On 21 February, filming took place at
Hankley Common Hankley Common is a nature reserve and filming location in the south-west of Elstead in Surrey. It is owned by the Ministry of Defence. The site is part of the Thursley, Hankley and Frensham Commons Special Area of Conservation, Special Prot ...
in
Elstead Elstead is a civil parish in Surrey, England with shops, houses and cottages spanning the north and south sides of the River Wey; development is concentrated on two roads that meet at a central green. It includes Pot Common its southern neighbo ...
, Surrey. On 26 February, the cast and crew were spotted on set at
Bamburgh Castle Bamburgh Castle is a castle on the northeast coast of England, by the village of Bamburgh in Northumberland. It is a Grade I listed building. The site was originally the location of a Celtic Brittonic fort known as ''Din Guarie'' and may have ...
in Northumberland with almost 200 extras. Other locations used include
Quiraing The Quiraing ( gd, A' Chuith-Raing) is a landslip on the eastern face of , the northernmost summit of the Trotternish on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. The whole of the Trotternish Ridge escarpment was formed by a great series of landslips; the Qu ...
in
Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated b ...
, and
Ely Cathedral Ely Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is an Anglican cathedral in the city of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. The cathedral has its origins in AD 672 when St Etheldreda built an abbey church. The presen ...
in
Ely, Cambridgeshire Ely ( ) is a cathedral city in the East Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire, England, about north-northeast of Cambridge and from London. Ely is built on a Kimmeridge Clay island which, at , is the highest land in the Fens. It was d ...
. Bamburgh 2006 closeup.jpg, Bamburgh Castle. Quiraing in Skye island in summer 2012 (7).JPG, Quiraing. Ely Cathedral Lady Chapel, Cambridgeshire, UK - Diliff.jpg, Interior of Ely Cathedral.


Costumes

Costume designer
Jacqueline Durran Jacqueline Durran is a British costume designer. She received considerable attention for her work on ''Pride & Prejudice'' (2005), for which she was nominated for both an Academy Award for Best Costume Design and BAFTA Award for Best Costume Desi ...
was in charge of the costumes for the film. Durran took reference from a book called the ''Tilke'', which is a sort of encyclopaedia of folk costume, compiled and illustrated in the 1920s by a German artist and ethnographer, Max Tilke.


Marketing

A couple of photos from the film were revealed on 18 April 2014, followed by two teaser posters on 14 May. The first trailer was released by StudioCanal on 4 June 2015 and crossed over 2 million views. Character posters featuring Fassbender and Cotillard were released on 27 August 2015. The first North American trailer was released by
The Weinstein Company The Weinstein Company (usually credited or abbreviated as TWC) was an American independent film studio, founded in New York City by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in March 2005. TWC was one of the largest mini-major film studios in North America prior ...
on 1 September 2015. A new pair of posters were released on 4 September 2015. In the Philippines, the film was marketed as ''Macbeth: Warrior King''.


Release

In October 2013,
The Weinstein Company The Weinstein Company (usually credited or abbreviated as TWC) was an American independent film studio, founded in New York City by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in March 2005. TWC was one of the largest mini-major film studios in North America prior ...
acquired distribution rights to the film. ''Macbeth'' premiered at the
2015 Cannes Film Festival The 68th Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 May 2015. Joel and Ethan Coen were the Presidents of the Jury for the main competition. It was the first time that two people chaired the jury. Since the Coen brothers each received a separate ...
on 23 May 2015 and was released in the United Kingdom on 2 October 2015 and in France on 18 November. The film had a limited release in the United States across five theatres in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco on 4 December 2015, before expanding theatres on 11 December. The film was released in the Philippines by Pioneer Films on 13 January 2016.


Critical reception

''Macbeth'' has received positive reviews from critics. The
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has an approval rating of 80% based on 198 reviews, with an average rating of 7.24/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Faithful to the source material without sacrificing its own cinematic flair, Justin Kurzel's ''Macbeth'' rises on the strength of a mesmerizing Michael Fassbender performance to join the upper echelon of big-screen Shakespeare adaptations."
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
gives the film a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Writing for ''The New York Times'' on 3 December 2015, Manohla Dargis complimented Fassbender's depiction of the lead role, stating: Cotillard's performance also earned high praise from critics, particularly for her rendition of the famous "Out, Damned Spot" monologue. Guy Lodge from ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' stated that "Cotillard electrically conveys misdirected sexual magnetism, but also a poignantly defeated sense of decency", and noted that it was a performance that "contains both the woman's abandoned self and her worst-case incarnation, often in the space of a single scene," and remarked that "Her deathless sleepwalking scene, staged in minimalist fashion under a gauze of snowflakes in a bare chapel, is played with tender, desolate exhaustion; it deserves to be viewed as near-definitive." Luke Buckmaster of ''
The Daily Review ''The Daily Review'' (sometimes referred to as ''The Review'') is a daily broadsheet newspaper, serving Bradford and Sullivan Counties of Pennsylvania. Its main office is in Towanda, Pennsylvania with branch offices in Troy and Sayre. It is o ...
'' rated the film four out of five stars, calling it "bold" and "fearless" and praising the production values as well as Fassbender and Cotillard's performances, but criticised the actors' poor enunciation or peculiar accents, which distracted from the film's other qualities.


Accolades


References


External links

* * * * *
Official screenplay
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macbeth (2015 Film) 2015 films French historical films American historical drama films British historical drama films English-language French films 2015 war drama films 2010s historical drama films British war drama films Films about witchcraft Films based on Macbeth Films directed by Justin Kurzel Films set in castles Films set in Scotland Films shot in Cambridgeshire Films shot in Scotland Films shot in Surrey Film4 Productions films 2015 drama films Films scored by Jed Kurzel 2010s English-language films 2010s American films 2010s British films 2010s French films