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Connor Macgregor Reviews...Lady MacBeth
Director William Oldroyd’s debut feature Lady Macbeth is a striking and thrilling feature that takes a powerless young woman, and through a series of gruesome dark events, evolves her into a strong powerful figure that embraces authority and strength within her household.
The film takes place in 1865, beginning with our lead character Katherine (Florence Pugh) being arranged into a loveless marriage to a man twice her age, and placed into a cold, unpleasant patriarchal family that operates a wealthy mine. Katherine’s role is simply to be seen, not heard, which sees her imprisoned indoors at all times, powerless and bored as life continues around her. But instincts soon get the better of her, as she sneaks out into the outdoors, and comes across fellow farmhand Sebastian (Cosmo Jarvis). Quickly, an affair is established which soon is discovered by her husband, leading to a deadly confrontation that begins a tragic set of events, destroying any form of order Katherine entered. But as a result of this, begins to awaken Katherine’s inner strength.
Central to the film’s success and strength is leading actress Florence Pugh. Her performance is both powerful and striking to watch, commanding the audience’s attention throughout, and developing a sensational character arc in less than 90 minutes. She begins the story a powerless, frightened child, and moulds slowly into a powerful mistress cold and fearful by her staff. Beginning in Carol Morley’s The Falling, this is by far a more layered and darker performance, with moments of danger and coldness throughout the film. The camera clearly loves her, as it hardly leaves her face throughout, focused on her on all the pivotal moments, and allowing the audience to see layer after layer build on her as events continue to twist and turn throughout the story.
Directing for the first time is William Oldroyd, whose background lies mostly in theatre. And it shows, as he directs the film like a theatre performance. Long scenes of tension, combined with strong dialogue of emotion, allowing facial expressions and tone to take centre stage. For a film budgeted at £350,000, the film is incredibly realistic in its production design and costume. This is done to the recruitment of Production Designer Jacqueline Abrahams and Holly Waddington, both major talents whose work have been evident on films such as Lincoln (2012), The Lobster (2015), Atonement (2007) and War Horse (2011). Because of this, it doesn’t feel at all too flashy or glamorous, which is often what you may expect in many period stories. It allows the audience to imagine the goings on outside of the house, and allows the events in the house to take centre stage.
Lastly is the supporting cast, which help make the time period more real, creating a selection of characters that best reflect the period, and create people with flaws, strengths and personalities alongside the character of Katherine. Cosmo Jarvis plays the love interest of Katherine, Sebastian. He’s impressive alongside Florence, and goes through an arc similar to Katherine’s but with a more tragic outcome. Naomi Ackie plays Katherine’s tortured maid Anna, a timid soul who is forced to bear witness the terrifying events that Katherine enacts, which leave her mute and afraid. It's a devastating and almost unbearable arc to sit through, but one that leaves you marvelled at Ackie’s remarkable performance.
Lady MacBeth is a film with grit, attitude, darkness, and power. William Oldroyd delivers a spectacular debut, which allows rising stars like Florence Pugh, Cosmo Jarvis, and Naomi Ackie to deliver powerful performances and create a thrilling tale of oppression, sexual desire, trauma, and and the battle for something better.
Rating - 84% - A-
Connor Macgregor Reviews...Lady MacBeth
Director William Oldroyd’s debut feature Lady Macbeth is a striking and thrilling feature that takes a powerless young woman, and through a series of gruesome dark events, evolves her into a strong powerful figure that embraces authority and strength within her household.
The film takes place in 1865, beginning with our lead character Katherine (Florence Pugh) being arranged into a loveless marriage to a man twice her age, and placed into a cold, unpleasant patriarchal family that operates a wealthy mine. Katherine’s role is simply to be seen, not heard, which sees her imprisoned indoors at all times, powerless and bored as life continues around her. But instincts soon get the better of her, as she sneaks out into the outdoors, and comes across fellow farmhand Sebastian (Cosmo Jarvis). Quickly, an affair is established which soon is discovered by her husband, leading to a deadly confrontation that begins a tragic set of events, destroying any form of order Katherine entered. But as a result of this, begins to awaken Katherine’s inner strength.
Central to the film’s success and strength is leading actress Florence Pugh. Her performance is both powerful and striking to watch, commanding the audience’s attention throughout, and developing a sensational character arc in less than 90 minutes. She begins the story a powerless, frightened child, and moulds slowly into a powerful mistress cold and fearful by her staff. Beginning in Carol Morley’s The Falling, this is by far a more layered and darker performance, with moments of danger and coldness throughout the film. The camera clearly loves her, as it hardly leaves her face throughout, focused on her on all the pivotal moments, and allowing the audience to see layer after layer build on her as events continue to twist and turn throughout the story.
Directing for the first time is William Oldroyd, whose background lies mostly in theatre. And it shows, as he directs the film like a theatre performance. Long scenes of tension, combined with strong dialogue of emotion, allowing facial expressions and tone to take centre stage. For a film budgeted at £350,000, the film is incredibly realistic in its production design and costume. This is done to the recruitment of Production Designer Jacqueline Abrahams and Holly Waddington, both major talents whose work have been evident on films such as Lincoln (2012), The Lobster (2015), Atonement (2007) and War Horse (2011). Because of this, it doesn’t feel at all too flashy or glamorous, which is often what you may expect in many period stories. It allows the audience to imagine the goings on outside of the house, and allows the events in the house to take centre stage.
Lastly is the supporting cast, which help make the time period more real, creating a selection of characters that best reflect the period, and create people with flaws, strengths and personalities alongside the character of Katherine. Cosmo Jarvis plays the love interest of Katherine, Sebastian. He’s impressive alongside Florence, and goes through an arc similar to Katherine’s but with a more tragic outcome. Naomi Ackie plays Katherine’s tortured maid Anna, a timid soul who is forced to bear witness the terrifying events that Katherine enacts, which leave her mute and afraid. It's a devastating and almost unbearable arc to sit through, but one that leaves you marvelled at Ackie’s remarkable performance.
Lady MacBeth is a film with grit, attitude, darkness, and power. William Oldroyd delivers a spectacular debut, which allows rising stars like Florence Pugh, Cosmo Jarvis, and Naomi Ackie to deliver powerful performances and create a thrilling tale of oppression, sexual desire, trauma, and and the battle for something better.
Rating - 84% - A-