On Imposing Men in Sicario and Macbeth

Towards the end of Denis Villeneuve’s brilliant cartel drama Sicario, Benicio Del Toro’s assassin tells the no longer blinkered Emily Blunt, “You should move to a small town. You won’t survive here. You’re not a wolf. This is the land of wolves now.” Just as Villeneuve’s earlier Prisoners (2013) debated torture, here the drug wars become figurative of America’s growing greed and selfishness.

This is a quietly threatening film with little dialogue and low grumbling music that at times cuts off highlighting real intensity. At the heart of this intensity is Del Toro, who emerges as the film’s catalyst mid way through. The threat of his character is communicated through the manner in which Del Toro uses his physique. Whether moving lighting and quietly, or imposing his weight in close proximity, Del Toro becomes the white shark, solitary and deadly, in the ocean of fragmented cartels.

Viewed alongside Prisoners and Incendies (2010), Villeneuve has created a triptych of political thrillers and the hope is that being brought into the Bladerunner brand under another director’s ownership doesn’t stymie his individuality. Sicario is a superbly crafter thriller, powerful without shouting about it. Features that its Mexican assassin carries in bounds.

A character that proves equally as dangerous, but far easier to spot is Macbeth in Justin Kurzel’s Shakespeare adaptation. As Macbeth Michael Fassbender’s demise into mental illness, pushed further on by Cotillard’s Lady Macbeth is terrifying. As his paranoia builds, so does the danger. Unlike Del Toro’s subtle threat, Fassbender projects his threat, most clearly seen when he burns Macduff’s family in a scene uncomfortable and pivotal in his unravelling.

Kurzel’s Macbeth is beautiful and brutal and highlights how the unaccustomed Shakespeare ear adjusts to the language. Yet, the language becomes second how Macbeth communicates, as Fassbender’s performance is so full of emotion that the raw passion comes through in how he owns the frame. Whether stood in isolation or swinging a sword in the centre of the frame, Fassbender carries Macbeth from start to finish. Although it helps that he is surrounded by powerful performances that react to and inspire his obsession.

These two performances go beyond stereotypical representations of masculinity. Sicario’s female lead is about 95% gender neutral, suggesting the film would be little different should Emily Blunt’s character be male. A refreshing approach. In both Del Toro’s assassin and Fassbender’s Macbeth there is depth. They are realistically drawn portrayals of loss and rage and where one keeps it locked inside, the other cannot.