THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH – Review

Macbeth is Shakespeare’s most murderous play, and a favorite of actors, even if they won’t say its name. Director Joel Coen, working for the first time without his brother/film-making partner Ethan, leans into that darkness with a noir-ish thriller adaptation that pares down the Bard’s work about a ruthlessly ambitious couple, played by Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, to its most furious, fiery essence. Shot in gorgeous black and white, with striking cinematography, surrealist sets in stark, wide-spaces, but with a pared-down narrative tightness, it is Shakespeare as taut, noirish thriller.

At a brisk 105 minutes, Coen’s THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH is shorter than most film adaptions. Joel Coen’s version slashes lines and even whole scenes, to focus in on a elegant, mad core. The result is electrifying nightmare, a tale with a sense of both nail-biting tension and horrifying inevitability. Visually, the film is as spare, nightmarish and crackling as the action, shot in a stark black and white, with surreal sets that evoke German expressionism and Orson Welles’ innovative adaptation of the Scottish play. Crows are a motif, with flocks of them (called a murder) sometimes exploding across the screen or wheeling through a fog-drenched sky. Landscapes are frequently obscured by fog, clouds fill skies, but shafts of light stab through windows and doorways. Dramatic light falls on door handles, transforming them into daggers.

The striking, shadowed, surreal visual landscape pairs perfectly with outstanding performances, particularly a never-better Denzel Washington. Yet, an unforgettable Kathryn Hunter, a British stage actor with contortionist skills, nearly steals the show at the start, playing all three witches in an unholy trinity. The film grips you right from the first, with a weirdly wild meeting of the three witches, all played by Hunter, and followed by an encounter with Macbeth (Denzel Washington), the Thane of Glamis, and his fellow Scottish noble Banquo (Bertie Carvel), two battle-weary generals returning home from war. On the road, they encounter the weird sisters – Hunter in a black robe, with duel reflections in a pool of water before her – who hail Macbeth as Thane of Cawdor and King to be, and predict Banquo will beget kings but not be one.

Macbeth thinks little of their mysterious prophesies, jokingly dismissing them to Banquo as they continue on their way to King Duncan (Brendan Gleeson). When an emissary from Duncan, a thane named Ross (Alex Hassell), greets Macbeth with the news that he is now Thane of Cawdor, he reconsiders what the witches have said.

While Macbeth is comfortable with just letting the prediction about becoming king play out on its own, his wife is not. Ambitious and ruthless from the start, Lady Macbeth (Frances McDormand) urges her husband to take bloody action. Macbeth is reluctant, and is conflicted, but once persuaded, proceeds with bloody determination.

Denzel Washington brings all his considerable skill to bear for this Macbeth. He is amazing as he takes Macbeth from loyal, brave soldier serving King Duncan to a madman consumed by power and haunted by guilt. Frances McDormand is coldly calculating from the start but as things unravel, so does she. Usually the roles are played by younger actors but by making the couple older, director Coen adds an urgency to them, a sense of a last chance for unfulfilled ambitions.

That twist is something that fits well with this adaptation’s film noir tone, casting them as a desperate pair making a last grab at a golden ring, but with a sense of inevitable failure typical of noir. Each turn of events leads to new desperate actions, also with that grim sense of the inevitable. The violence is often up-close, giving it an extra rawness and edge. When Macbeth murders King Duncan, the camera moves in close, giving a gut-wrenching immediacy to the deed.

The rest of the cast excels as well, with some particular standouts in small roles. Brendon Gleeson plays King Duncan with a quiet gravitas, and Harry Melling, as Duncan’s son and heir Malcolm, takes him from an expressive, enthusiastic boy to a steely, more hardened man. Stephen Root makes the most of his small role as the porter, adding a singular moment of bawdy humor before the first murder is discovered. Other standouts are Alex Hassell as the coolly calculating Ross, Corey Hawkins as the skeptical, upright Macduff and Moses Ingram as the ill-fated Lady Macduff.

The starkly beautiful photography by Bruno Delbonnel emphasizes the shadows and sharp lines of the sets and adds to the film noir feel as well. There are no ceiling fans and Venetian blinds, but sets often have slanting light and actors are half-lit, Fog and clouds often fill the skies. Overhead shots isolate characters and make them appear small. Crows fly out of foggy landscapes. Angular, stony sets loom like giants over the players. Landscapes are both surreal and hauntingly empty.

The noirish surreal tone is aided by Carter Burwell’s powerful but spare score. There are strains of music in a minor key, sometimes suggesting bagpipes, but also eerie tones, bird-like sounds, and insistent drum beats that reflect the images on screen. Set design by Stefan Dechant suggest a stark Scottish landscape and harsh brutalist buildings that loom threateningly, dwarfing the people within, while Mary Zophres’ costume designs suggest period Scottish outfits but pared-down to basic outlines.

THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH is a remarkable, muscular adaption of Shakespeare’s bloody tragedy, pared-down to its basics but packed with haunting performances, and set in an unforgettable surreal landscape with breathtaking cinematography. It is a must-see for both fans of the Bard and the Coens, as well as a creative, lightening strike of a drama that is a top contender for Oscar seasons gold.

THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH opens Saturday, Jan. 1, in theaters and streaming on Apple TV+ beginning Friday, January 14.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars