Shakespeare ’s classic plays have always been a popular choice for film and television adaptations, ranging from Leonardo DiCaprio’s "Romeo and Juliet Postmodern Passion" to Ethan Walker’s "Hamlet" and so on . And "Macbeth" is even worse. It has been adapted by many film masters before. Polanski and Orson Wells' versions are believed to arouse admiration and pressure from the younger directors. Unexpectedly, Australian director Justin Kuzel did not change the content of this well-known story too much. Instead, he highlighted the background of the war. He spent a lot of pen and ink describing the bloody cruelty of the war and the psychological trauma it caused to the protagonist. , Thus planted the fuse of the narrative, leading to a series of escalating madness and tragedy.
In order to highlight the style of this modern adaptation, the director has done enough articles on audio-visual technology. He moved the claustrophobic indoor stage in the original drama to the real scene of the vast Scottish plains, relying on stylized light and shadow techniques to create a dreamlike atmosphere . The beginning and end of the war scenes on the Scottish plains are the most eye-catching. A large number of slow motions and monologues of the protagonist create a magical western epic scenery. The voice-overs of the characters continue to give people an immersive sense of immersion . The fog, firelight, and candlelight set off the horror atmosphere commonly seen in horror movies. The last battlefield smoke makes the whole picture a bloody red. On the basis of retaining the original drama structure, the director successfully incorporated stylized image expression.
Violent portrayals also add a few strong strokes to this aesthetic style . In addition to the tragic war scenes just mentioned, the director also spent a lot of pen and ink describing the king's panic after falling into madness, such as the horror picture of arresting women and children and burning them in public. Has an extremely shocking visual and psychological impact. Kuzel’s preference for violent description runs through almost all of his works, from the outrageous killing of innocents in his debut novel "Snow Town Madness", to the almost crazy violence in this work, and then to "The Reality of the Kelly Gang". The horrible bloodbaths in "History" point to the ugliest and darkest side of human nature .
For those who are familiar with Shaon’s original work, this extreme aesthetic must be the biggest highlight; for those who are not familiar with the original drama, the superb interpretation of the two heroes and heroines is absolutely eye-catching, Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard 's dream combination then reunited in the director's "Assassin's Creed". Fassbender’s role as the increasingly mad and paranoid king is lingering, and the Queen, played by Oscar-winning actress Cotillard, is not tolerant, and all complex emotional expressions are comfortable. However, this story of tragedy due to ambition and suspicion is limited to the level of classic expression, and may not involve too much realistic warning significance. This seems to be the limitation of the adaptation of classic dramas.
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