Kurzel‘s Macbeth – A fearless warrior and inspiring leader is brought low by ambition and desire.
Now here is something that we are very excited for. Justin Kurzel‘s Macbeth has started its seven week shooting period. This exciting new production has a very strong cast behind it and promises a fairly classic interpretation of the text, whilst still having a couple of newer additions.
There are a number of reasons as to why we are eagerly anticipating seeing this new production, but the main one has to be its cast. In the lead role of Macbeth we have the continuously impressive Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave, Shame), and his wife Lady Macbeth is being played by one of the world’s most talented actresses Marion Cotillard (Rust and Bone, Inception). As if this wasn’t tempting enough the film has also gathered up David Thewlis (Harry Potter), Paddy Considine (The Bourne Ultimatum), and Elizabeth Debicki (The Great Gatsby).
Amongst the new additions to the text there will be an examination of Macbeth’s all-consuming passion, alongside the greed and ambition with which we are more familiar. It’s hard to call whether this is the best direction for the project to take at this moment. It’s certainly not as safe as playing the story exactly as Shakespeare wrote it, but we certainly won’t criticise that. Also there is no doubt that Fassbender can handle complex emotional material if you look thorough his portfolio. It will be interesting to see how the changes play out.
Reportedly french actress Marion Cottilard has had difficulty mastering the original Scottish accent, fearing for the integrity of the film if she failed. She is now supposed to have given up, and is playing the role with a French accent. However you purists don’t get enraged – sources have explained that a French accent is completely plausible given the alliance between Scotland and France during that time period (Source).
Currently up in Scotland, the production will also come down to Oxford and Cambridge next month for the shooting of certain scenes. We will be keeping a close eye on the production to see what else we can learn.
