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The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)
The 2021 rendering of The Tragedy of Macbeth is a visually arresting adaptation of the Shakespeare classic worth watching because of Joel Cohen's stunning directorial eye and a performance by Denzel Washington that has earned him his ninth Oscar nomination.
Washington plays the conflicted Scottish Lord who is approached by three witches who inform him he's going to be the next King of Scotland. Macbeth is not comfortable with this mandate, but his ambitious wife is and convinces him to accept his destiny, even if he's not so sure it is his destiny.
This is my first exposure to the Shakespeare classic and I'm not sure if that was to my advantage or to my detriment, because, if the truth be told, I found it extremely difficult to understand this story and exactly what was going on. It was clear that this Macbeth was initially very conflicted about taking this throne and probably would not have if it weren't for the manipulative Lady Macbeth, but beyond that following the story was difficult until the murder of Macduff's family. Cohen's adaptation of the play didn't seem concerned with making the language more accessible to the audience nor was he concerned with the fact that a lot of the dialogue wasn't spoken above a stage whisper, which also was a hindrance in following what was going on.
Despite my difficulty understanding the plotline, I found myself absolutely riveted to the screen for two things. The first was Cohen's visualization of this story. The mounting of this story was gloriously theatrical, in the form of a photographed stage play. This is a term I have used in a negative context for other films I've reviewed, but it completely works here. Cohen's approach to the mounting of this story is completely theatrical. The entire film was shot on sound stages, not a single exterior shot, giving the film an arresting, gothic, nightmarish look that seemed to coincide with the conflicts going on in the mind of the central character. The film is gorgeous to look at, filled with camera shots that look like paintings and scenes that seemed to be brought to the screen as they were written...like scenes in a play. The end of scenes would just click off, like a light cue to black. Cohen goes for theater onscreen here and he nails it.
The other thing that makes this film worth watching is, of course, the acting. Washington completely loses himself in this complex role, evoking every conflicted emotion of this monarch without every resorting to scenery-chewing. What he can't convey through language, he does convey through his eyes and his movement. I may not always have known what was going on, but I always knew what this guy was feeling. Three time Oscar winner and wife of the director, Frances McDormand, also commands the screen in one of her most bone-chilling performances as Lady Macbeth, a character to whom she tried to bring a semblance of humanity. Alex Hassell and Corey Hawkins offer solid support as Ross and MacDuff, respectively and I also loved that Kathryn Hunter played all three witches. More than anything, this film is a master class in direction by Joel Cohen who shows exactly what a film should look like.
The 2021 rendering of The Tragedy of Macbeth is a visually arresting adaptation of the Shakespeare classic worth watching because of Joel Cohen's stunning directorial eye and a performance by Denzel Washington that has earned him his ninth Oscar nomination.
Washington plays the conflicted Scottish Lord who is approached by three witches who inform him he's going to be the next King of Scotland. Macbeth is not comfortable with this mandate, but his ambitious wife is and convinces him to accept his destiny, even if he's not so sure it is his destiny.
This is my first exposure to the Shakespeare classic and I'm not sure if that was to my advantage or to my detriment, because, if the truth be told, I found it extremely difficult to understand this story and exactly what was going on. It was clear that this Macbeth was initially very conflicted about taking this throne and probably would not have if it weren't for the manipulative Lady Macbeth, but beyond that following the story was difficult until the murder of Macduff's family. Cohen's adaptation of the play didn't seem concerned with making the language more accessible to the audience nor was he concerned with the fact that a lot of the dialogue wasn't spoken above a stage whisper, which also was a hindrance in following what was going on.
Despite my difficulty understanding the plotline, I found myself absolutely riveted to the screen for two things. The first was Cohen's visualization of this story. The mounting of this story was gloriously theatrical, in the form of a photographed stage play. This is a term I have used in a negative context for other films I've reviewed, but it completely works here. Cohen's approach to the mounting of this story is completely theatrical. The entire film was shot on sound stages, not a single exterior shot, giving the film an arresting, gothic, nightmarish look that seemed to coincide with the conflicts going on in the mind of the central character. The film is gorgeous to look at, filled with camera shots that look like paintings and scenes that seemed to be brought to the screen as they were written...like scenes in a play. The end of scenes would just click off, like a light cue to black. Cohen goes for theater onscreen here and he nails it.
The other thing that makes this film worth watching is, of course, the acting. Washington completely loses himself in this complex role, evoking every conflicted emotion of this monarch without every resorting to scenery-chewing. What he can't convey through language, he does convey through his eyes and his movement. I may not always have known what was going on, but I always knew what this guy was feeling. Three time Oscar winner and wife of the director, Frances McDormand, also commands the screen in one of her most bone-chilling performances as Lady Macbeth, a character to whom she tried to bring a semblance of humanity. Alex Hassell and Corey Hawkins offer solid support as Ross and MacDuff, respectively and I also loved that Kathryn Hunter played all three witches. More than anything, this film is a master class in direction by Joel Cohen who shows exactly what a film should look like.