Awful accents, monotone, try hard whispery guff - Macbeth (2015) Discussion

[–] Youkilledmypine 9 years ago

The guy on the wind machine must've been getting paid by the scene, apparently it was even windy indoors. I have no idea why Lady Macbeth couldn't just be French. She gave up attempting Scottish mid sentence after the first couple of lines.
Sean Harris is notorious for mumbling. I call it Alco-whispering disease made famous by Richard Harris and Phil Mitchell.
I think the filmmakers were confident the audience already knew the story and were content with rattling through some parts while plodding along in others.
The cinematography was generally excellent however. We had a couple of walkouts in our showing. I can't blame them but then I liked it for the most part. Scotland just looked f ing freezing, making the forest fire at the end absurdly unlikely.

reply

[–] Chocolegz 9 years ago

Uhh? Lady M is French. Cotillard didn't attempt to change her accent according to Kurzel.

It's ok to like more than one actor. :))

reply

[–] Youkilledmypine 9 years ago

Erm, yes she did. Empire gave the film five stars but still noted Lady M only just managed to sound "not quite French". A French accent is almost impossible to disguise. I recall an investigator saying it was an immediate giveaway in the docu-thriller The Impostor (a great film btw, one to look out for if you've not seen it)

reply

[–] Chocolegz 9 years ago

Empire Mag: Marion Cotillard Says She's Keeping Her French Accent For 'Macbeth' With Michael Fassbender
http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/marion-cotillard-says-shes-keep-her-french-accent-for-macbeth-with-michael-fassbender-20140307

Chatting with John Cameron Mitchell in Interview magazine, Cotillard revealed she's keeping her French accent for her turn as Lady Macbeth. Here's what she had to say:

COTILLARD: Oh, yeah. And, it is really tough. It's tough already for someone who speaks English. But we really tried to stick to the original text, which is inspiring because he wrote the words, but also because there is a rhythm and an energy that fits with the emotion and the purpose of what he says. But, of course, I couldn't do it by myself. I need someone to work with; they want to keep a flavor of my French accent, because when they offered me the part, I told [director Justin Kurzel] ... Well, he knew—...

Express UK:Curse of the accent... Marion Cotillard gives up trying to master Scots brogue for Macbeth
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/458206/Curse-of-the-accent-Marion-Cotillard-gives-up-trying-to-master-Scots-brogue-for-Macbeth

It's ok to like more than one actor. :))

reply

[–] Ellielw 8 years ago

She sounded English to me with hints of her normal accent.

reply

[–] Casper-Von-Kyd 8 years ago

Lady MacBeth was french in the Movie, it made sense historically because of the Alliance between the two countries.

Telling Shakespeare lines with a french accent will make them even harder to get for audiences. Moreover it was attempted by Simone Signoret back in the old days and she was absolutely trashed by critics.

At no point did Cotillard try to do a Scottish accent, you obviously don't have good ears. She spoke with a standard non regional British accent, with almost no hint of French. French people can speak with a proper British accent if they train. Look at Eva Green. She had a very strong french accent at the beginning of her career and worked a lot to play a convincing British woman in almost all of her movies.

reply

[–] murduhacuppa 8 years ago

"Lady MacBeth was french in the Movie, it made sense historically because of the Alliance between the two countries."

Except that doesn't make sense, because MacBeth is set in the 11th century, whereas the Franco-Scottish Auld Alliance didn't happen until the 13th century.

reply

[–] stephaniemilne-37992 9 years ago

Agreed, it looked good....or what I could stand to stay for. I think they gambled a bit too far if they thought they could rely on people knowing the story already. I know it well, studied it at university, but it would have been nice to be able to get fully absorbed in the movie as a whole. I'm just disappointed because it had a lot of potential for me and it failed big time!

reply

[–] Youkilledmypine 9 years ago

I'd suggest waiting and watch it at home with the subtitles on. If the accents are still a pain there's always the mute button ;)

reply

[–] stephaniemilne-37992 9 years ago

I could probably get past the accents if it wasn't for the mumbling. The mumbling and whispery tones made it almost unintelligible. I say almost because if I totally focused I could make out every second word but that's just too much hassle for me, especially when in surround sound in a cinema where things should be audible. So I guess if I wanted o watch a movie without dialogue is just watch a silent movie. Visuals and dialogue in a movie that's meant to have dialogue should compliment each other but unfortunately this didn't do it for me and many many other people if judging by General feedback across the Internet.

reply

[–] tkksilvergun 9 years ago

Agree with the OP, I found the whispering style really drab, Fassbender was bland and his accent was distractingly atrocious. I followed it all OK cos I'm familiar with the text and have seen Snowtown loads so knew to expect a low-key approach but the staging of scenes was really inconsistent - sometimes it was really imaginative and effective and others I found myself zoning out. The battles felt totally superfluous and weren't violent enough. Thought the way it ended was really good though and quite chilling. Would probably have preferred Sean Harris in the lead role, although his accent wasn't great either. Polanski version is best still in my eyes. Shame cos I love the play and think Snowtown is a masterpiece, I still liked MacBeth overall but was expecting more.

reply

[–] ukkid35 9 years ago

This movie looked amazing, almost every scene was visually powerful and memorable. To add to the effect the screen where I saw the movie had a howling gale blowing through (thanks to the ventilation system) which did add to the atmosphere. However from the very first lines delivered by the witches my hackles were up, they were droning, monotonous, in fact anything but naturalistic.

I don't get Shakespeare's dialogue, so I need Luhrmann or perhaps Polanski to bring it alive for me. I have a huge respect for the leading players, but it seemed as if they were discouraged from making the iambic pentameter sing. Instead the director appears to have encouraged them to deliverer the dialogue in a conspiratorial whisper, which may have been appropriate for a few scenes, but not the entire movie. On the rare occasions when the lines seemed conversational, I was so elated that it simply proved to show how the rest of the delivery was basically dead.

No one actor was better or worse, so presumably that means the fault must lie with the director, who may have a brilliant vision, but definitely a dead ear.

reply

[–] PoppyTransfusion 9 years ago

On the rare occasions when the lines seemed conversational, I was so elated that it simply proved to show how the rest of the delivery was basically dead.

No one actor was better or worse, so presumably that means the fault must lie with the director, who may have a brilliant vision, but definitely a dead ear.

Ha, ha! Well put.

A bird sings and the mountain's silence deepens.

reply

[–] gridoon 8 years ago

I'd suggest waiting and watch it at home with the subtitles on. If the accents are still a pain there's always the mute button ;)

I agree. The movie looked impressive until someone started speaking - which, unfortunately, happened a lot.

reply

[–] mptxyz 8 years ago

A lot of people have complained about Lady Macbeth's accent, but she was the only major character I had no problem understanding. If it was not for that and all the shouting I would probably have walked out.

I enjoyed Michael Fassbender's acting, but when he stopped shouting I missed about every third word. There were some characters I could not understand at all.

I think the filmmakers were confident the audience already knew the story . . .

That is a big problem with some Shakespeare productions. Maybe everyone involved in making it knows the story so well they cannot imagine what it is like for anyone who doesn't. I saw Philip Casson's 1979 'A Performance of Macbeth' about 15 years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. But I could not remember enough of the story to figure out this film.

There were a lot of very well acted scenes in which various people were killed, but I have no idea who they were or why they died.

I gave it a 3; but if there is a version with decent subtitles I may revise that upwards. I suspect that it deserves an 8 or a 9.

I can't be bothered with a signature

reply

[–] Bml-93 8 years ago

I think the filmmakers were confident the audience already knew the story

To be honest, most people who even thinks about watching anything of Shakespeare should be familiar with the story.

---------------------------------------

I want to play a game.

reply

[–] bbethany7-699-48220 8 years ago

Bbethany7 As bad as the accents are, with murky scenes, near black-out visuals, annoying music, etc. the movie dishonors one of Shakespeare's foremost tragic dramaa by subjecting it to recent cinematic trickery that serves the egos of technicians and the director. You can't blame the actors because the production *beep* on their efforts. Shame on them.

reply

[–] herodotusfumosus 8 years ago

You're wrong. If everybody in the film were delivering their lines as John Gielgud or Laurence Olivier did, the audience would be in stitches the whole time. It's a good compromise between keeping the original words and NOT deliver them in a 19th century declamatory Fashion.

reply

[–] Chocolegz 8 years ago

I couldn't agree more. I was looking for the opposite. That's why I'm excited about this fresh approach.

It's ok to like more than one actor. :))

reply

[–] ActorMan22 8 years ago

Herodo,
I disagree. For one thing, Gielgud and Olivier were from the 20th century, and were great actors in general, so their line readings would not be the hammy, phony
accents we have read about from most actors in the 19th century.
I thought this was a DREADFUL movie, regardless of the author.
The accents didn't bother me, though that's probably because I am very familiar with the play.
EVERYTHING ELSE bothered me:

1) The monotony of the line readings. No dynamics at all. Has anyone involved in this movie EVER done Shakespeare before? It sure didn't sound like it.
2) Why all the whispering? Was there a wedding reception next door and the actors didn't want to make any noise? I guess the actors (most likely the director) thought it gives the lines a menacing tone; it could, but not in EVERY SCENE!

3) It seemed that every actor was told that this is a tragedy so that means they can never show ANY emotion other than pure dread. For example,early in the movie, as everyone gathers at Macbeth's castle to CELEBRATE the crushing of the rebellion, why isn't anyone but Duncan smiling? Remember, people, its a CELEBRATION, A PARTY. The actors played the conclusion of the scene, which means their characters apparently knew the King was going to be murdered pretty soon. Once again, that's the directors fault.

I could go on, but you get the picture. When almost all the actors, especially the 2 stars give bad performances, its either the script an/or the director's fault. I think the script was well written :0); so then it's....

reply

[–] billybarnett806 8 years ago

Your loss.

reply

[–] ajbarm 8 years ago

I thought it was good in general terms, but i have to agree and actually was going to look for a post like this or create one. I take it as if they were reading the play and acting along what the lines say... wouldnt want to see many films done like this, but i thought it was ok for this film and kinda original.

reply

[–] toniachebebell 8 years ago

I totally agree! The mumbling and whispering was maddening!

reply

[–] nickryder9 8 years ago

Me too! Could not understand what they were saying much of the time. The visuals were good but the mumbles ruined it for me.

reply

[–] Satantangoandcash 8 years ago

I wish I had waited to watch this on video with subtitles or at least read the play again before going to the theater. The accents didn't bother me because I could barely hear them since the actors were continually either whispering or growling like a movie trailer announcer but without any volume. Shakespeare is all about the language, but this movie was more concerned with visuals. I get it that it's a movie not a stage production so the actors don't need to project but they HAVE to be understood!

reply