Shakespeare isn’t hard. At least it doesn’t have to be. Despite decades of it being held up as something hugely intimidating in high school English classes, the writer’s plays are sonnets are just words. They have their own rhythm, to be sure, but every writer does. The trick, I learned in college while being in a production of Hamlet, it to not let it overwhelm you. And the problem with most classes is that the assignment is to “read” a play when it works better to “speak” the lines, giving you a chance to feel the rhythms and cadence of the dialogue. These are plays, after all, not novels.
The Bard once again is coming to theaters in this week’s adaptation of Macbeth. Michael Fassbender plays the title character with Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth. The story remains the same and should be known to anyone with any familiarity with Shakespeare. Macbeth receives a prophecy from three witches that he will become King of Scotland and so he sets out to make sure that prophecy comes true, beginning with murdering the current king. But his path descends into paranoia and misery and he comes to believe he can’t trust anyone, including his own children.
The Posters
The first poster for the movie shows a Macbeth that’s ready for battle. Or more accurately one that looks like he’s been through battle already. He’s bloodied and has some sort of ceremonial war paint still evidenced on his face and looks just…worn. Released around the same time is a poster showing Lady Macbeth, but she’s seen in what seems to be a wedding gown, with a veil over her face.
The next poster big and dramatic, which is in keeping with the tone of the campaign. We see Macbeth staring up into space like he’s questioning his fate and within his profile are the other elements of the story, including Lady Macbeth, a massive battle and flames encompassing the whole thing. It’s sweeping and grand and actually includes a smattering of visual design originality, so it wins. There was an alternate version of the poster that swapped the white space for complete saturation in red, which certainly alludes to the story being drenched in blood. It’s something Macbeth fans will immediately pick up on but which may be lost on the general audience.
We return to the battlefield for the next poster as Macbeth stands alone, his head bowed as war rages around him. The reddish brown mist that surrounds him conveys a mix of dirt and blood that certainly amps up the gritty feel of the image. After that the three witches that give Macbeth the fateful prophecy are featured on the next one-sheet as they stand in the middle ground of an open field, their own words to Macbeth in the sky above them.
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are featured on the next two posters again. There’s not too much to them as they each show the characters staring someone off-camera.
The Trailers
The first teaser trailer does a decent job of presenting the Cliff’s Notes version of the story. We get that Macbeth and his wife – indeed at her urging – is determined to execute some sort of plot to gain power, a plan he’s successful at. But that success has a price as he descends into madness and all the power he’s claimed begins to unwind and slip from his grasp
That all being said, it’s a good teaser. If you dig this kind of movie and are a fan of either of the leads you’ll be immediately attracted to the film. It’s heavy on tone and visuals and light on dialogue, perhaps out of a sense that audiences would be attracted to the Braveheart-like feel but turned off by actual Shakespearean dialogue, which is a shame. The plot is apparent only to those who know the play already, otherwise all you’re getting here is the sense that this is a gritty drama about political maneuvering among royalty. So it’s being sold to the “Game of Thrones” crowd.
The theatrical trailer starts off in the middle of a battle We get the same main beats as Macbeth plans and executes his power grab but then deals with the fallout from that decision. There’s a lot of the same footage and it has the same overall tone of being a gritty, bloody telling of the story.
This one pretty much works on the same level and for the same reason the first one does. It’s big and dramatic and makes its appeal to the crowd that is looking for high drama as a way to make Shakespeare palatable.
Online and Social
The official website starts with some moving images from the trailer and a big prompt “Get Tickets.”
“Videos” has both trailers along with a couple clips. “Synopsis” has a *very* short write-up of the story and “Gallery” has about 15 stills from the movie with a couple behind-the-scenes shots mixed in.
You could find profiles for the movie on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Advertising and Cross-Promotions
Nothing that I’ve seen on either front.
Media and Publicity
The press push started in earnest (at least as far as I could tell) a couple months out from release with this story about the film’s visual effects and how they created the tone and feel of the movie.
The movie would get some generally positive, though largely mixed, reviews coming out of its screening at the AFI Film Festival. And scattered press would cover the casting of Fassbender, how Fassbender is the latest actor to take on the title role and so on. It wasn’t a huge press push but there was enough to keep the lights on.
Overall
I like this campaign, particularly for the brand consistency that’s on display. I’m also a fan of Shakespeare on film (everything you need to know about story pacing can be found in Much Ado About Nothing, either version) so I’m admittedly inclined to like this and be excited for the movie. So I’m kind of in the bag here.
Like I said, though, they’re obviously trying to sell the movie to a crowd that expects more out of stories like this after a few years of Game of Thrones and other stories like that. So the campaign is playing up those elements of the movie and it remains to be seen if that emphasis is representative of the movie as a whole or just a hook being used to lure in something approximating “casual” moviegoers. But the limited release strategy of the movie means those very fans may not be able to see it at all until it’s on DVD or Netflix/Amazon.
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