17yo reading Macbeth (1606?) leading me to watch Kurzel’s 2015 adaptation starring Cotillard and Fassbender, this revisiting of the play reminding me of the many cultural touchstones that play brought (“sound and fury” being one of the more prominent), and also leading me to wonder about the film’s interpretation of what I had always thought was a somewhat misogynistic portrayal of the Queen’s cunning. I can’t figure out if I’m misreading Cotillard’s performance, but her machinations seem less sinister, less villainous, than I remember is traditionally assigned to the character; I found her somewhat sympathetic – someone peripheral to power who pushed a little bit (admittedly, the push is for a horrific act) and then found herself in deeper water than anticipated. However, this point is not touched upon by the handful of reviews I’ve fished around at, so I have no idea if I’m way off mark. Reader comments on those reviews are typically scattershot and insular.
Still, I found the story compelling. That Shakespeare may have been onto something! This strip is simply four lines that stuck out – I had some trouble paring the choices down. The ‘idiot’ line reminding me of my own attempts at art (a censoring voice).
The ‘scorpions’ line deliciously unhinged, and therefore an expression of anxiety. I had initially meant for it to be melodramatic, perhaps a man lying on his back or groveling, close-up of his face. As it turned out, I grabbed this portrait view and this woman in the background, and initially meant for him to be thinking on that looking at her, but she turned out unintentionally young and so the sentiment unintentionally lascivious. Switching the thought to her mind, almost as an afterthought, makes the frame enjoyably silly, but this is a divergence that I’m still not particularly happy with.
The ‘buckle’ line, highlighted in this adaptation as a talking head close-up of Caithness, creepily timely considering the current state of affairs in the US and the UK. At any rate, such a satisfying turn of phrase for anyone suffering executive dysfunction. For whatever reason, it brought to mind the debate between Clinton and Trump in which he decided to inexplicably wander around stage while she was speaking. Adrift and menacing.
The resolution, spoken to the (now) King as the Queen tries to talk him down, unintentionally at the time foreshadowing her own loss of faculty to come, through insomnia. Useless advice, though true, as it is an impossible fix. Always back to basics. I can’t go on, I’ll go on.
17yo reading Macbeth (1606?) leading me to watch Kurzel’s 2015 adaptation starring Cotillard and Fassbender, this revisiting of the play reminding me of the many cultural touchstones that play brought (“sound and fury” being one of the more prominent), and also leading me to wonder about the film’s interpretation of what I had always thought was a somewhat misogynistic portrayal of the Queen’s cunning. I can’t figure out if I’m misreading Cotillard’s performance, but her machinations seem less sinister, less villainous, than I remember is traditionally assigned to the character; I found her somewhat sympathetic – someone peripheral to power who pushed a little bit (admittedly, the push is for a horrific act) and then found herself in deeper water than anticipated. However, this point is not touched upon by the handful of reviews I’ve fished around at, so I have no idea if I’m way off mark. Reader comments on those reviews are typically scattershot and insular.
ReplyDeleteStill, I found the story compelling. That Shakespeare may have been onto something! This strip is simply four lines that stuck out – I had some trouble paring the choices down. The ‘idiot’ line reminding me of my own attempts at art (a censoring voice).
The ‘scorpions’ line deliciously unhinged, and therefore an expression of anxiety. I had initially meant for it to be melodramatic, perhaps a man lying on his back or groveling, close-up of his face. As it turned out, I grabbed this portrait view and this woman in the background, and initially meant for him to be thinking on that looking at her, but she turned out unintentionally young and so the sentiment unintentionally lascivious. Switching the thought to her mind, almost as an afterthought, makes the frame enjoyably silly, but this is a divergence that I’m still not particularly happy with.
The ‘buckle’ line, highlighted in this adaptation as a talking head close-up of Caithness, creepily timely considering the current state of affairs in the US and the UK. At any rate, such a satisfying turn of phrase for anyone suffering executive dysfunction. For whatever reason, it brought to mind the debate between Clinton and Trump in which he decided to inexplicably wander around stage while she was speaking. Adrift and menacing.
The resolution, spoken to the (now) King as the Queen tries to talk him down, unintentionally at the time foreshadowing her own loss of faculty to come, through insomnia. Useless advice, though true, as it is an impossible fix. Always back to basics. I can’t go on, I’ll go on.