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This is a true independent film created by people passionate about Shakespeare and clearly shows how a talented pan-european cast and crew can create a fresh, new, clear interpretation of this timeless classic.

A MACBETH FOR THE JILTED GENERATION
Marek Oravec and Golden Globe® Nominee Hannah Taylor Gordon star in a bold new film adaptation of Shakepeare’s infamous play 
THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH directed by Daniel Coll (cert. 12)
(DVD Available now on Amazon in the UK released  12 March 2012 
Global Download Release Scheduled for June 2012)  
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MGB Media and Independent Artists Releasing – THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, a strikingly bold and youthful new film version of Shakespeare’s most notorious and bloody play.  
The story is set in 11th Century Scotland as Shakespeare intended, but casts Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as a pair of eager twenty-something’s thirsty for fame and fortune. The ancient mountain kingdom is an epic landscape of winter, snow and ice —a world fit for heroes and the young Macbeth is our man of the moment. Together with his beautiful young bride they are the celebrities of their age: filthy rich, famous and passionately in love.  
Through a surprise encounter with some alluring strangers the Macbeths are seduced into believing that they deserve even more, that they can have it all, and they jump at the chance to take it.  With no regard for the consequences, their reckless impatience leads them to a spiral of violence ending in madness and death, and a final self-realisation. 
Filmed entirely on location in the Austrian mountains, Marek Oravec (FOYLES WAR, CAPTAIN AMERICA) and Hannah Taylor Gordon (JACOB THE LIAR, THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK) make for a beautiful and intense on-screen couple. An international supporting cast also brings fresh life to the myriad of supporting roles; including a stand-out performance from Viennese children’s T.V. presenter Richard Panzenboeck as the chilling assassin Seyton.   
The screenplay was adapted and written by Steven Coles and it was clear from the outset that while he and the producers wanted to retain a traditional period setting they was determined to present the story in a new and vibrant way: “Macbeth can be portrayed as a villain and a tyrant, Lady Macbeth is often seen as a psychopath or a demon, but I imagined Macbeth as a handsome young hero with a glittering future ahead of him, and his wife as a beautiful and innocent girl. Their tragedy is that they have everything to live for, and they are brought down not by their wicked natures but by their exuberance and naïve faith in gossip. Shakespeare’s play is so relevant to today’s age of celebrity and individualism, and in this new film it becomes a story about coming of age: it’s about fame, fortune, ambition, and the dangers of believing everything you hear.”
 
Producer Mike Berenger hopes the film will be a hit with students studying Macbeth as a set text for GCSE and A Level: “Having produced Macbeth on stage with a young cast I knew it was the way to go for the film —it’s a roller coaster 90 minutes and by the end you’ll definitely understand loads of Shakepeare’s subtle word-play and clever story-telling. We’ve also given the film a hard visual look and a heavy soundtrack to match and both really help underpin the narrative.” 
It’s not all young-blood on screen however, the leads are supported by a superb cast of character actors. Hal Fowler steps out of London’s West End to bring us an emotionally charged and worldly-wise Macduff and there’s a special cameo from 70’s heart-throb Oliver Tobias as a hilariously unhinged and philandering Porter. 
This is Daniel Coll’s debut feature as director, having spent most of his career on the other side of the camera. Getting to the heart of the Macbeth’s relationship was his goal for the film: “Filming on top of mountains at minus 15°C is always going to make life hard, but it seemed to only intensify the performances and look of the film. The result is a film with a really sharp edge and a Macbeth and Lady Macbeth red-hot for power and passion.”  

For more information go to the films website – macbeththemovie.com

We’re not weird…are we? Maybe we admire the Bard…why don’t more others do?
He breeds wonderful conversation…we learn from each other, Perhaps we could ask Paul McCartney
to record a song using Bard’s words…that would spread the word.
How do I contact Paul?

Jack ojacksand@gmail.com