OSCARS 2022: The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)

Which movie version of “MacBeth” do you prefer? Orson Welles' moody adaptation? Roman Polanski's gory, neo-realist take? Even in the last decade, there's been no shortage of new takes of the play, including a gritty version with Michael Fassbender or even an interpretative dance adaptation! And now the most high-profile “MacBeth” in recent memory comes to us from the Coen Brothers... Or one of them anyway. Joel decided to go solo to direct a new version of the Scottish play, leading to many questions of whether or not the brothers have permanently broken up. Joel being on his own hasn't effected critics' opinion on “The Tragedy of Macbeth” The film has been acclaimed and nominated for three Academy Awards. 

The most striking thing about “The Tragedy of Macbeth” is how it looks. The entire movie is shot in moody black-and-white. Shadows stand out boldly against the white stone surfaces, such as when Macbeth and his wife talk the night before the murder. A wooden shack emerges in the middle of a road, in the center of the frame. Faces look up or down square staircases. This deeply expressionistic look is further emphasized by the stripped down sets. The entire movie was shot on sound stages. Most of the telling takes place inside sparse, intimidating stone fortresses. The walls are slate white and most rooms have a rectangular shape. This makes it seem like the characters are increasingly boxed-in, trapped by their own actions. These choices lend what is ostensibly a historical play a mythic feeling. 

Naturally, both of these choices makes “The Tragedy of Macbeth” a more dream-like experience than previous versions of the play. A number of surreal choices are sprinkled throughout. Macbeth's first encounter with the Weird Sisters has one witch emerge out of the fog, before her sisters appear via reflections in the water. Later, the three witches are perched above MacBeth in another tightly photographed room. They then summon a vision out of smoke and water. The film repeatedly associates the Sisters with flocks of black birds. Ravens overhead are, of course, symbols of foreboding. These choices make this “Macbeth” a telling thick with portent, so moody at times that it practically feels like a horror movie.

No matter how inventive Coen and his team's approach to “Macbeth” may be, there's still a pretty serious issue here: Shakespeare is still Shakespeare. What exactly drew Joel Coen to this well-worn material? Medieval Scotland is pretty far away from Fargo. Yet one can't help but notice some thematic similarities between the Shakespearean material and the brothers' previous works. The Weird Sisters – or, at least, the prophecy that speaks through them – seem to represent the same chaotic, sometimes karmic forces of the universe that often doom or benefit the characters of the Coens' films. In its best moments, “The Tragedy of Macbeth” also summons up the same dread evident in the filmmakers' thrillers. It's not impossible to see parallels between the determined villains of the Coens' most iconic films delivering cruel violence with Macbeth's campaign to exterminate all who stand in his way. Joel Coen and Shakespeare is not an immediately obvious match but one that makes sense after you think about it. 

You watch a filmed version of “Macbeth” to see how a different star put his own spin on the iconic material. “The Tragedy of Macbeth” has Denzel Washington stepping into the role of the doomed Scottish king. Denzel brings a world-weary quality to the part. From the moment he decides to commit murder, he seems exhausted. He picks up the dagger more because he's tired of the world constantly shitting on him, than out of a hunger for power. His take on the “Sound and fury” speech is utterly resigned. Even as Washington's Macbeth boasts of his prophesized victory, he seems all too aware that his time will be up shortly. Denzel is certainly a performer capable of illustrating someone who has been worn down by a lifetime of mistakes and makes for a compelling Macbeth.

Joel, naturally, casts his own wife as Lady Macbeth. Frances McDormand, herself a powerhouse of Awards Seasons acting, puts her own spin on the notorious role. McDormand's Lady Macbeth is as cunning as you'd expect. She still talks her husband into committing murder, to ensure their own power and protection. Yet McDormand keeps things muted. Her Lady Macbeth is not a raging villain, an evildoer with a clear plan. Instead, she simply encourages her husband to seize an opportunity, at the cost of his soul. When the weight of her actions bare down on McDormand's quietly cunning Lady Macbeth, you believe her subsequent mental breakdown much more than in some other versions of this story.

Ultimately, filming a Shakespearean play is always an exercise in limitations. You can't change the text or the story too much, out of deference to these three hundred year old words. Joel Coen's solution to this question was obviously to make his film look as striking and stylish as possible and that's a largely successful strategy. At its best, “The Tragedy of Macbeth” engineers a spooky feeling of foreboding. The cast put interesting spins on the well-known characters. Whether this represents an interesting new direction for Coen or simply a short break from him and his brother's usual adventures remains to be seen. As it stands now, Coen's “Macbeth” is largely worth seeing for its fantastic cinematography and production design. [7/10]