As Michael Scott would say, I am "a little stitious".
I have always had an aversion to things related to odd numbers as opposed to even...especially the #13 and numbers that add up to 13. To further add to this, the new apartment that I will be moving to in less than a month has "13" as part of the street address.
I am just going to try to ignore that...
As a big theatre person, one of the biggest superstitions is that you can't say "Macbeth" before a performance as it could lead to immense bad luck.
I would say that this is just pure heresy...but...I was involved in two productions in which someone decided to utter the word "Macbeth" as opposed to the appropriate phrase in its stead: "The Scottish Play".
In the instance of the first production, we had a few set pieces break and they couldn't move as they were supposed to and another actor injured their hand on broken glass.
In another production, an actor fell and strained their back, another had a spill during a choreographed number, and meanwhile a trap door we were using stopped working which created concern that it might give out during the performance which caused a lot of us to have redo blocking and choreography on the spot as we couldn't risk stepping on the trap door.
So yes...needless to say, I would only ever say "The Scottish Play" if I was actually standing in a theatre...and especially if I was a part of the cast or crew of a production.
That was my long-winded (and only semi-related to the topic at hand) introduction to this review on Joel Coen's adaptation of that perennial Shakespeare classic: The Tragedy of Macbeth.
In terms of its placement in Shakespeare's canon, I think most would agree that it is near the top of the list. It would be for me as well, definitely a top 5 contender.
**Side note: If anyone was curious, my top 3 favorite Shakespeare plays are Othello, King Lear, and Measure for Measure.**
Film adaptations of Shakespeare tend to not get the same level of buzz and acclaim...most likely due to those who may have an aversion to not understanding the older prose.
This adaptation is something of a departure for Joel Coen, who is now on his own as a filmmaker after his brother Ethan chose to not continue a filmmaking partnership and instead focus on writing for the theatre.
If I can commend anything from this film, it is that of Coen's direction and his artistic staff.
Film is a visual medium and the world that was created for this adaptation was stark and striking. Many of the images reminded me of the German Expressionist work from the 1920s and early 1930s by the likes of F.W. Murnau or Fritz Lang. I also could see influences of early Ingmar Bergman films such as The Seventh Seal or Wild Strawberries.
On top of that, the ensemble at hand rose to the occasion. As Macbeth, however, I was sort of mixed on Denzel Washington at first though his interpretation grew on me as the film progressed.
Frances McDormand was a great Lady Macbeth and her "Out damn spot!" scene was very memorable and some of the finest work of her career.
If I am going to single out anyone else though, I have to single out Kathryn Hunter who gets the task of playing all three of the iconic witches.
Hunter is a highly respected and regarded British theatre actress known for her ability to contort her body in every shape imaginable and having a distinctive guttural voice and dark eyes that seem to pierce through your soul.
While only onscreen for less than 10 minutes, she leaves a lasting impression and it is truly a shame that she will more than likely miss out on an Oscar nomination...but yes, we know, the Oscars are FAR from perfect as are any awards body.
The film does suffer from one rather significant flaw though: the truncation.
On one hand, a running time of 1 hour and 45 minutes seemed very pleasing but the truth is that the lesser runtime sort of cheapened the outcome for in terms of watching Washington and McDormand have their descent into madness. It didn't feel earned and it practically came out of nowhere.
Coen did streamline the story but I think it could've used another 20-30 minutes to really pad out the middle and give the material the weight it deserved.
However, despite that rather unfortunate flaw, the film overcomes it thanks to its cast, direction, and the overwhelmingly gorgeous visual aesthetic that felt so fresh and modern and also like a relic of older films from the past that had almost an otherworldly creepiness about them.
So yes, with those boosts, the film will get a lofty rating from me.
The Tragedy of Macbeth will be RATED: 4.5/5
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