“Dagger of the mind”: a study of Kurzel’s Macbeth (2015) through the psychologization of the supernatural

Details

Supervisors

Latre, Guido

Degree label

Master [120] en langues et lettres modernes, orientation générale, à finalité spécialisée: sciences et métiers du livre (édition, librairie, bibliothèque)

Abstract

Macbeth (1606) is inherently cinematographic, with its medieval Scotland, its bloody plot, its violent characters, and, most importantly, its “supernatural soliciting”. Despite the possibilities of the film medium to exploit Macbeth’s supernaturalism, some, like Justin Kurzel, would rather erase it. While violence is explored in Kurzel’s Macbeth (2015), the occult is notably pushed into the background and attributed to the thane’s distressed mind. For this reason, this dissertation will explore how and why Kurzel erases Macbeth’s supernaturalism by psychologizing it and will investigate various aspects that shaped this particularly disenchanted reading of the Scottish play, exploiting to this end historical, textual, artistic, and cinematographic elements.