YNMS: MacBeth
Thursday, June 4, 2015 at 2:00PM 
Jason from MNPP here with a look at the first trailer for this our brand new MacBeth movie, which stars Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard and yeah you all already knew that. The film already played Cannes and won some auspicious notices there; I do believe some people were upset that Cotillard walked away from the fest once again empty-handed. The film has an October 2nd release date in the UK but still nothing official here in the States. Anyway let's give this thing the ol' "Yes No Maybe So" treatment shall we? (We'll try to pretend for argument's sake that my "YES" can't already be seen from space.)
YES The battle scenes look spectacular right off the bat. We'd already seen some shots from the set that hinted at a righteous visual splendor even before the effect-houses did their work on it and sure enough...
... gorgeousness.
YES Speaking of gorgeousness. Michael Fassbender, ladies and gentlemen. I'm already packing a protest bag to head to LA this winter in case he's once again snubbed nomination-time given the way he delivers some of this well-worn dialogue in this trailer alone. (And that single tear!!! My god.) As a sidenote Fassbender's been working for a long time but I don't think he could've been a star earlier than now - the wear and tear on that mug of his is hypnotic, isn't it? Bless those wrinkles.
YES And the contrast between his battle-scars and Marion's milky-smooth scary beauty, even just as the early visual notes of a disharmony, makes so much sense already. She's gonna make for such a Lady, you guys.
Yes And note how often the two actors are surrounded by a wall of their own sex - masculine faced off against feminine - I can already read the subtexts and themes loud and clear from less than two minutes of footage. Which brings me to Justin Kurzel, the director - have you guys seen Snowtown yet? It's an incredibly difficult film to watch but brilliant, just brilliant. I'd have watched whatever he did after that but a MacBeth movie with these actors is just almost more than I can handle.
Yes Thewlis holla!
YES Thewlis & Fassbender homoeroticism, double holla.
I mean really, with the knife emerging from the frame there. Really.
Yes The costumes look positively scrumptious. Unexpected and singular, even. Jacqueline Durran, who already won an Oscar for Anna Karenina, seems to have done some beautiful dream-like work here.
Maybe So I think what Nat was saying about the Suffragette trailer yesterday, about the absence of a "slate grey dour blue palette" to symbolize seriousness, I think that transfers over here in important moments too. There are unexpected choices color-wise, lots of golds and...
... dear lord this sequence looks spectacular. But there are also some heavily filtered moments where it might be a little too blue-gray and dark brown? We'll see. That's as close to a "Maybe So" as I can get. Back to what matters most...
YES YES YES YES YES YES
So... yeah, I actually don't have any No's. Maybe when they felt the need to say "From the Producers of The King's Speech" - that's the closest to a "No" I can come up with. I'm so sold. Here's the trailer:
What about you?
Reader Comments (32)
I have such a man-crush on Fassbender. He is really one of the best out there. And Marion is hypnotic. I´m sold just on the actors involved alone.
YEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!
FINALLY!
I am SO MUCH yes - I'm just hoping that the issues I had with hearing the mumbly dialogue was just my speakers and not an actual issue with the film. Nothing bugs me more than actors mumbling their way through Shakespeare. The language is difficult enough as it is!
denny, one review I read specifically singled out "mumbling" for comment. But I'm choosing to ignore that for the moment (not watching the trailer anyway).
Macbeth is my favourite Shakespeare tragedy so I shall be seeing the film, although I don't like Fassbender that much (heresy around these parts I know). The clip I saw of the battle in slow motion put me off slightly, but I don't usually like battle scenes anyway. The quieter moments in the trailer sold me more. I really like Polanski's version so it shall be interesting to compare them.
This trailer makes the film look like an artistic masterpiece--here's hoping it is!
By the way, to say 'The Snowtown Murders' is difficult is an understatement. Not since 'Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer' have I seen such a disturbing film. There's no denying the craftsmanship, but I don't know what else we can do with films like that...
You mean YAAAAAASSSS!!!
I have nothing, absolutely nothing to say about this other than:
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Having taught English and much Shakespeare ( MacBeth being one of my favorites ),, I am definitely a YESSS !!!
I don't know too much about Fassbender's work, but what I have seen, I have enjoyed...
Cotilliard can do no wrong IMO ...
my most anticipated of the year, so YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Yes Yes Yes...but where are the witches? Did I miss them? What's a Macbeth trailer without the witches?
San FranCinema - I didn't cap the shot but I think that might be them towards the start, shown opposite the slow-mo shot of Fassbender walking at the camera. It's a group of women and sort of greenish tinged? My guess is that's them.
Why am I signed in an H. Swank? I think I did a gag comment as Hilary once and that's why. Good grief I should never write comments while on Ambien. Anyway that's me in the previous comment, which makes all of that make slightly more sense.
^^ LOL
I'm a yes based on the casting alone, but I have to admit the trailer isn't doing much for me (apart from the lovely shots of Fassbender). It's not *weird* enough. Where are the witches? Where are the ghosts?
Just makes me want to watch THRONE OF BLOOD again.
I feel like I should have a "I'm here for Marion" shirt made.
Such a yes. It's got this Kubrick and Wes Anderson got together to storyboard Shakespeare, then hired Bruno Delbonnel to light the thing.
Yes: I love Shakespeare and I never got to see any of the NYC Macbeth productions last year. I particularly would have liked to have seen Alan Cummings in the role.
Yes: I'm always amazed at how just right on the part Marion Cotillard is every time I see her. I also want to see Elizabeth Debicki and Paddy Considine in the supporting roles.
No: all yes, no noes.
Maybe so: somewhere along the line, I fell out of love with Fassbender. When he suffers, I just don't care. But maybe that's good for the character of Macbeth.
Side note: I was surprised to learn that the director is married to Essie Davis, of The Babadook and Miss Fisher's Mysteries.
Speechless but for: Hell Yeah!...
I'm a not on this one, but only because I don't like "Macbeth", the play, at all... and this trailer doesn't seem to suggest there is anything particularly novel about this adaptation.
Yes! Marion needs to win a second Oscar. But maybe not next year, but some further day. One of the greatest goddesses. And all I want to do is make love to Fassbender's genius. His talent is sexy as f...
Yes. That is one hell of a trailer. I think I was pretty skeptical about this in an earlier comments thread, but I rescind all previous reservations. This is now easily one of my most anticipated films for the rest of the year.
SanFranCinema and Jason: Yes, those are the witches.
I feel it's actually appropriate to say here "Yaaassss queen!"
Yes, but I also dislike the mumbling and whispers and soar voices.
I can be hot and cold on Fassbender as an actor (The Counselor = yikes), but I love what Jason says about the wrinkles on his "mug". If he didn't have that wear and tear (including around four prominent scars), I think he'd look a lot more like the blandly pretty/handsome Henry Cavill and Matt Bomer. I always like looking at his face even when I think he's terrible. There's a mature regality to it.
As for the trailer, I'm definitely not in love with the slo-mo or the mumbling. I really love the casting of the supporting parts, even if none of the roles are particularly juicy. Thewlis, Sean Harris, and Paddy Considine are really talented.
YES: FUCKING EVERYTHING
NO: Nothing
verily!
Definitely looking forward to this one. My only fault is the grey tone, but even then I'm loving the compositions within. So many seemingly out-of-place quiet pans and symmetrical shots.
My only "no," and it's not a very good one, is that I love the old Polanski version and can't help but draw comparisons. Even so, I'm glad to see all the excitement for a Shakespeare adaptation!
I am a definite maybe. From the trailer, I can't tell if this is horror, art film, or meant to be rousing.
Yaaas queen, although The King's Speech reference gave me pause. (I still can hardly believe *that* won the Oscar over The Social Network.)
um YES.
not only for Fassbender and Cotillard, but also I'm obsessed with Macbeth itself.