Let’s keep the black and white going. I really wanted The Tragedy of Macbeth to be my first review of the year, but it didn’t work out like that. Luckily, I was able to get a lend of somebody’s Apple TV+, and I’ve spent the last few days catching up on CODA and Swan Song, with award season in mind – both movies are very good in their own right. The Tragedy of Macbeth is based off the famous William Shakespeare play of the same name – a snore and a chore for me to study in Year 11, and now I’m actively seeking it out because of director Joel Coen, Denzel Washington and Francis McDormand. I’ve got high hopes, and this could be the ultimate interpretation.
Returning from a valiant battle, honoured knight Macbeth (Denzel Washington) is beset upon by three witches who prophesize that he shall be King. Upon hearing of this mysterious occurrence, and believing fate on her side, Lady Macbeth (Frances McDormand) is rambunctious is seizing an opportunity before them, as the King (Brendan Gleeson) decides to lodge in their keeping for the night. Macbeth sways back and forth on the task of murdering the King for his own gain; to slay and betray King and country, and reap the power and unforeseen difficulties that follow.
The gravitas of watching Denzel Washington do Shakespeare was never lost on me. When the mad King turns mad, Washington certainly brings his own style and swagger. But I think somewhat similarly to Ansel Elgort’s Tony in West Side Story, Washington does not shine as bright as others around him, partly due to the lack of strength in his character, defined by Macbeth’s indecision in his desires. Washington also mumbles a lot, tonally steady in his soliloquy. Conversely, who else would you want to see as Lady Macbeth? Frances McDormand, as always, is a heavy-hitter, who knows nothing else but to be amazing (I only just rewatched Madeline the other day, where McDormand plays the school’s nun, Miss Clavel, and she’s even fantastic there, amongst the fluff). But to partly reiterate, McDormand has the benefit over Washington of playing a character where the motivation is ever clear, from callously ambitious at the outset, to her own madness that results. Lady Macbeth has always been the most interesting character of the famed play for mine, and my evaluation remains with this interpretation. Even though Washington is nominated for his part by the Academy, I still think she’s the stand-out, and I’d expect nothing less, hand-picked by her husband as always, in another Coen production. I can already foresee that the category for Best Actress is going to be the one with the most competition, casting an eye forward to the upcoming Slice Awards 😋
There’s one shot while Macbeth is monologing, whilst Lady Macbeth watches on, with three illuminated enclaves behind them, and a darkened staircase to the left, that is gorgeous – signifying to me, a depiction of the three witches looming large, and the dark path downwards that the Macbeths have taken to meet them. It’s a gorgeous shot, and I suppose I expected more of that, and to be wowed more often accordingly. Dare I say, the first ten minutes are the best ten minutes; the way this movie interprets the three witches by the lake, and has actress Kathryn Hunter contort and talk amongst herself. The camera cuts around her whilst she’s concerned with straight ahead; and I thought we were in for a technical lesson in bringing the best out of your material, as I hoped. I also loved the initial setting in the thick fog too, and staging that saw our characters walk purposefully into frame and stop. But all that elevated production technique seemed to dry up as the movie went on, or perhaps I wasn’t playing close enough attention. Or maybe my standards were simply too high to impress. The design of the Macbeth’s castle also exploits its angles for a terrific use of shadow, but I don’t know, part of me still felt like it was all a little generic…
Is Macbeth the biggest case of peer pressure in the history of literature? The three hags dare Macbeth to be King, and his ambitious wife is like Billy Madison on the bus, saying ‘do ya double dare me?’ Or is she more like Emperor Palpatine saying, ‘do it!’? The Tragedy of Macbeth is a tale of greed that tears a kingdom apart, and where one foul act calls for another and another, until the initial task corrupts out of hand. I don’t know what I was expecting from a Joel Coen production of the Scottish play, but something more. Something nags at me (like a bloodspot staining my hand 😏) – but I suppose a play that’s 415 years old isn’t going to elevate too drastically ten years later for me, just because Denzel is now saying those lines. And I guess with Shakespeare, the words are so rigid, it cuts down the unexpectedness within the movie, and only leaves the actor’s performances, and the quality of production to be analysed. Would this be the definitive version of The Tragedy of Macbeth? I’m not sure, but it’s a damn good one – if you’re in the mood for that sort’ve thing. Good luck, modern school children, coerced to study Macbeth and looking to this movie for inspiration – it’s never too early to get a little McDormand in your lives, I suppose, but a greedy little Dursley as the cautious Prince Malcolm (Harry Welling) might turn you off, if you’re a fan of the Boy Who Lived.
3.5
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