"The Tragedy Of Macbeth" Is Everything You Want From The Scottish Play
Starring Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Brendan Gleeson, Corey Hawkins, Harry Melling, Kathryn Hunter
Rated R
Drama
Run time: 1 hr, 45 min
Written and directed by Joel Coen (and Shakespeare for the script, of course)
On Apple TV+ January 14, 2022
Despite being about Scottish nobility, Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s dreariest plays. There’s war, thanes who rule over lonesome austere castles, three spooky witches and a myriad of dark plots of betrayal. Oftentimes, adaptations of this play are dramatized even more, despite it being at its core one of the most intriguing tragedies that ol’ Billy Shakes penned. It’s so eerie and shrouded in so much darkness that you are not allowed to say the name of it in a theater. And I wasn’t sure what I expected when I heard that one of the Coen brothers had tried his hand at this classic, but I was overwhelmingly impressed. With a fully black and white and starkly furnished and costumed production, Coen let the story speak for itself in a way no previous version had ever accomplished nearly as well. The title speaks for itself: this truly highlights the absolute tragedy of Macbeth.
Taking the time to explain the plot seems a bit redundant considering how much of this story has just become known within culture by the virtue of its own existence, but just in case, here’s a bit to go off of. Macbeth (Washington) is a Scottish war hero who has done quite a bit to impress his king, Duncan (Gleeson). After a battle, with his friend and fellow nobleman Banquo, he encounters “the weird sisters” who deliver a startling prophecy that Macbeth will someday wear the crown of Scotland. Rather than let fate play itself out, Macbeth decides to take matters into his own hands, egged on by his wife (McDormand). Things escalate, power-hungry becomes the main way you could describe the nobleman and it spirals out of control, taking many a man and woman down with it.
This movie is stunning. I assumed I’d be able to only half pay attention since I’m both a frequent Shakespeare festival attendee and the proud owner of an English degree, which means I have the basics of most of these plays set up in my mind. That didn’t matter. I was transfixed, admiring just how simply the outfits were and how, despite having multiple large set pieces, they fade fully into the background. There is nothing that can fully draw focus from the actors themselves, which is something I’m not sure I’ve even really seen, either on stage or film. The camera zooms out when the scope is necessary, but there are so many shots that closely crop around the actor’s face (or at least their top half), that you are all but forced to look these tragic figures in the eye as they perform soliloquies that foreshadow their devastating fates. There are hazy scenes in the Scottish moors, hushed conversations in stone castle courtyards and murders in every setting the 11th century has to offer. It’s everything I didn’t know I needed in an adaptation of a play I thought I knew all too well.
My favorite Shakespeare adaptation is the Kenneth Branagh-helmed production of Much Ado About Nothing, so it’s embarrassing to admit that my first thought about this movie was, “Huh, I never thought about Denzel doing Shakespeare, but I’m into it!” He’s literally one of the main players in this movie I know almost to full memorization. Seeing him combine his timing of the Bard’s writing with the drama chops we’ve seen him show off in many a modern movie made me have high hopes for his award potential this upcoming season. Combining him with McDormand was a stellar pairing that I couldn’t see coming but I know I’m all the better for having seen. There isn’t a weak link in this cast, and even trying to find a fault with the production overall is almost impossible. For those who struggle with Elizabethan English, this could be the perfect entry point: With it being available on streaming, turn on those captions and experience the combination of seeing it acted out before you while being able to read each line of dialogue as it goes. And with a run time under 2 hours, it’s tailor made for novice Shakespeare fans or true fans of the Bard who have seen many a bloated production over the years. For one of the first times in quite a while, when the credits rolled, I actually found myself wanting more.