La tragedia de Macbeth

Macbeth is a gorgeous take on the Shakespeare classic. With a phenomenal performance by Denzel Washington as Macbeth, with some incredible emotionally loaded scenes. The soundtrack and sound effect during the film was nothing short of astounding catching your attention.

With beautiful use of lighting and a lack of props, to put complete focus on the characters. While also using the lightning during the film to set different moods and feelings. With an incredibly slow start, this movie might seem boring at first but end up finishing intensely.

The negative reviews surrounding The Tragedy of Macbeth are disappointing. To be fair, without subtitles I wouldn't understand much either. But saying this cast is "woke" is downright disrespectful to the amazing performance by Washington.

The Tragedy of Macbeth is a beautiful piece of film. It's definitely a film worth seeing but a lot of people will be disappointed in the slow start and use of old English.

I really, really, really wanted to love this movie. I have taught the play before and have a good feel for the material, but even I found it to be inaccessible.

The Coens (even though this is just Joel) are my favorite directors, the cast is incredible and the vibe certainly resonates, but even then I found it to be hollow. I was waiting for that Oscar moment from DENZEL, but it looked like he was contained throughout the production.

I will certainly review the film - with subtitles - to see what that does, but I walked out feeling empty. I thought this would walk away with film of the year, but I don't think it'll even end up in the Top 5 or 10.

Maybe I am the idiot looking for the Sound and Fury that should accompany one of best tales of all time.

First, Denzel Washington is very good. But all that restraint needs to be let loose at some point, and it isn't. The black and white staging and lighting is more like a throwback to German Expressionism than anything actually new. Frankly the direction, staging, and cinematography detracted from the excellent acting, and the whole thing felt very heavy handed. I wanted it to be great, I really enjoy the play, I enjoy Coen's other movies, but it just did not quite work.

In the trailers, the most we get of the weird sisters is a glimpse of some shadowed silhouettes, and Kathryn Hunter sitting on a high beam chanting the famous "pricking of my thumbs" line. But from the FIRST scene of the film, you recognize the power she wields as an actor. Not only does she play all 3 sisters, and switch between them with Gollum-like fluidity, but her physicality contorts with such deliberate eeriness that for the first time in a long time, I was reminded of how terrifying the character(s) can be. Also, her vocal and rhythmic control of the witches' incantations- perhaps some of the wackiest lines Shakespeare ever penned- is masterful, elevating them to an effect that might haunt the Bard himself. A rare and memorable performance that left me with a new appreciation for the odd, yet profound presence of the supernatural in this play.

Denzel and Frances are masters in their own right. While their performances as the Macbeths may not be as striking as Hunter's, they nonetheless make for a very good pair to carry this film's weight, and each bring a grounded freshness to their lines. One thing I really appreciate was that they didn't "rise themselves up" to the weight of these characters, but rather brought the characters down to them. Instead of expanding their presence to fill the shoes of giants, they let the words filter through them with the coolness of their own natural presence. I could see and hear Denzel and Frances adopt the text in their own cadence/mannerisms, and (to quote another Shakespeare play) "acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness."

Finally, Joel's vision really makes this adaptation stand out. Its aesthetic is a clever blend of film and theatre, employing the intimacy of one with the uncanny semblance of the other. Not only does this effect serve the presence of ghosts and witches well, but it gives the whole piece an almost dream-like quality that draws you in like the air-drawn dagger. But beyond that, Joel's understanding of the text and concept as a whole is so sharp that his own changes to certain scenes/characters offer a savvy new take on a 400 year old tale.

I'm usually not a huge fan of Shakespeare on screen, but "Macbeth" is my favorite Shakespeare play, so that combined with my curiosity about what Joel Coen would do with the material drew me to see this one. It's really good, and it fully embraces what I like best about the play, its twisted and macabre aesthetic. Coen goes all in on atmosphere, and this has to be one of the most gorgeous looking movies released this year. Rather than try to open up the work for the screen, he instead goes the opposite direction, making this film look purposefully artificial, like it's being performed on the grandest of theater stages.

The acting is superb all around, but it's Kathryn Hunter, playing a variety of characters throughout, including all three witches, who walks away with the movie. I was slightly disappointed with Frances McDormand as Lady Macbeth. It's not that she's bad, it's just that this is such a juicy role and I felt like an actress as formidable as McDormand could make something truly memorable out of it, but instead it's a serviceable but uninspired interpretation. If you want a really memorable version of the Lady Macbeth character, take a look at Isuzu Yamada's take on it in Akira Kurosawa's "Throne of Blood." That performance will make your hair stand on end.

One of the things I never like about Shakespeare adaptations is that they always feel so stage bound and insular, no matter how much writers and directors try to make them fit a cinematic medium. "The Tragedy of Macbeth" also feels stage bound and insular, but since Coen decides to film it in a way that enhances its artificiality rather than try to compensate for it, I enjoyed it much more.

Grade: A-