The Tragedy of MacBeth

Movie: The Tragedy of MacBeth

Nominated for: Best Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design

How I watched: Apple TV

When I fell asleep: Nay

When it had me: Witches!

When it lost me: Intermittently

What I have to say:

I watched this with my daughter which was awesome because she can recite large speeches of it from memory. She did and I loved it. I am a HUGE Shakespeare geek! I love to see these plays remade over and over as fast as you can reboot Spiderman! I like to see actors get a crack at these well known characters and directors get a shot at envisioning a new interpretation. That being said, movie versions of Shakespeare almost always seem to leave something to be desired. These plays are well suited to big acting and a little scenery chewing which is so lovely in person and too much to handle in a close up on screen.

In Joel Cohen's version, I first loved his visualization of the three witches in one actor who is gifted with extreme physical performance and a wicked vocal rending as well. It was super cool! It comes right at the beginning and is arguably my favorite part of the whole thing. I also liked the character of Ross in his fancy dress and taking more of a corrupt, driver seat role in this version.

Denzel's MacBeth was imbued with a lot of fear and instability which I found vulnerable and compelling. Frances' Lady Mac was solid and even more powerful in light of the decision to have the main couple portrayed as older than the usual casting. Their machinations read more as a last grasp for power and relevancy instead of a young and ambitious bid. The whole picture was just a tad more desperate.

Production Design was almost all relegated to lighting, with an overall style that was so aggressively German expressionistic that it began to detract from the overall film for me. The natural vistas where the witch is spotted and the depiction of Birnham Wood were very real and grounded, so the castle being nonsensical by contrast was a jarring choice.

If you didn't see this already, please treat yourself to Ethan Cohen's "review" of his brother's first solo effort. It's a beautiful study in sibling resentment and long held grudges, Shakespearian in its own scope and drama!