While Macbeth has undergone many iterations, Justin Kurzel’s 2015 film is the rare version that emphasizes the daunting nature of the Scottish landscape. Jed Kurzel’s score tries to bring this landscape to life and, in doing so, creates a particularly dark, hopeless mood.
In a story almost entirely driven by two characters, the most obvious approach would have been leitmotifs for each one. Instead, Jed Kurzel creates a mournful atmosphere through thick layers of strings backing up somber violin melodies. Kurzel’s atmosphere meshes with the massive, empty Scottish countryside, marred by surreal fogs of red and orange. Together, they create an unstoppable force. When Macbeth or Lady Macbeth find themselves here alone, they feel dwarfed, specks on the face of natural and divine, bound by the whims of gods and prophecies.
Occasionally pounding medieval drums and wailing war horns interrupt the score’s overwhelmingly sorrowful mood. But these are only distractions from the film’s solitude and disappear into the moors as quickly as they came, leaving the Macbeths to continue facing the anguish of their choices in isolation.
