Do we need another version of Macbeth?
There was quite a good version in 2015 with Micheal Fassbender and Marion Cotillard, and two really terrific versions from Roman Polanski and Orson Welles.
However the director of The Tragedy Of Macbeth, Joel Coen, is at a place in his career where he can do what he wants, and it seems like he wanted to do Macbeth. Who am I to argue with him?
It is interesting that it was Apple which funded the movie (the last Coen brothers film was a Netflix production ) so I would imagine stealing the Coens from Netflix (or one Coen in this case ) involved him basically being allowed to do whatever he wanted.
In terms of style it is more, Cabinet of Dr Caligari than Baz Lurhman. Filmed in black and white, with heavy use of silhouette, and surrounded by stage sets which look like an Escher painting, you have never seen anything like this. Isn’t that cool in this day and age?
The cast is really strong. Denzel Washington plays Macbeth, and it is great to see him back doing Shakespeare - his last outing for the bard, in 1993’s Much Ado About Nothing, was not much of a role, but he did stand out. I hope he has another crack at it soon (too young now for Lear, but some day ). Francis Mcdormand as Lady Macbeth is as good as you could imagine. Lady Macbeth is the meatiest role Shakespeare wrote with the exception of Hamlet and unsurprisingly she puts her own spin on it.
The age of the leads suited the roles better, they are older than the usual actors who play the couple (consider Fassbender and Cotillard were 30 years younger than them ). The question of childlessness in a more elderly couple is more interesting, it adds something to the motivations of two leads.
That said, with its absolutely stacked cast, it is British stage actor Kathryn Hunter who steals the show as (all three ) of the witches. Her body bends and cracks like a aged ballet dancer and in her final appearance in the movie, where she is perched above Macbeth, looking down at him like a murder of crows, it might be my cinematic highlight of the year. I look forward to going over both her scenes when it is available to stream (January 14 on Apple TV ).
If you are into your Shakespeare, you know what you are getting here. Coen has the confidence to cut quite a bit of the play to bring it in at a tight 90 minutes - a clever move when you do not have the luxury of an intermission.
This was clearly a fun Covid passion project for him and wow, what a result! In terms of Oscars, I think cinematography and the two leads will at least be nominated. Still in cinemas I would suggest seeing it there if possible.
