The combination of Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard is already a powerful one, but combined with William Shakespeare's Macbeth and it's downright volcanic. The first images have arrived from Justin Kurzel's (Snowtown) adaptation of one of Shakespeare's most notable plays, and they show Fassbender as Macbeth and Cotillard in what promises to be a splashy role as Lady Macbeth.
Fassbender spoke to the Daily Mail about his approach to the character, and it's by connecting him to a modern day issue....
Fassbender: "He’s suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. It makes total sense, when you think about it. Justin set the seed of the idea in my head.
This trauma is something we know about. In World War I they called it battle fatigue, and it was probably more horrific in Macbeth’s days, when they were killing with their bare hands, and driving a blade through bodies.
'He’s having these hallucinations, and he needs to return to the violence to find some sort of clarity, or peace."
As for the murderous bond between Macbeth and his wife, Fassbender says that it's rooted in their fractured marriage, broken by the loss of a child...
Fassbender: "He’d been away fighting and when he returns, we see it’s a relationship that’s broken down. They lost a child, and there wasn’t time for them to grieve because he’s been away campaigning. Lady M is desperate for that reconnection, and briefly they do. And, of course, the doorway has been opened to darkness and to violence."
Filming on Macbeth is ongoing with no release date, but don't be surprised if Weinstein drops this in the thick of the Oscar race. How could they not?
