An exquisitely rendered Shakespeare adaptation that feels both timelessly elegant and sharply contemporary, writer-director Joel Coen’s first solo cinematic outing marks a bold parting of the ways with younger brother Ethan. This pared-down but respectful version of the Bard’s much-filmed game of thrones is a feast of ravishing monochrome visuals and high-calibre performances, led by Denzel Washington as the treacherous Scottish monarch, Frances McDormand as his murderously ambitious wife, and Brendan Gleeson as the ill-fated king Duncan, the first victim of the duo’s serial killing spree. Following its world premiere at New York Film Festival last month, The Tragedy of Macbeth has just made its European debut at the BFI London Film Festival. A24 are planning a theatrical release in December, followed by streaming launch on Apple TV in January.
The Tragedy of Macbeth was shot under difficult conditions, including a Covid shutdown mid-shoot and the departure of original producer Scott Rudin over mounting allegations of abuse. But off-screen drama has left no obvious dent in the on-screen drama. Wisely deciding he probably cannot improve on Shakespeare, Coen treats the text with due reverence, and the bloodthirsty plot with chilly gravitas. Even with the play stripped down to its psychological thriller core, the dialogue has been carefully and thoughtfully streamlined, retaining most of its endlessly quoted lines and key tonal shifts.
A lion in winter with his grey-flecked beard, burly physicality and steady background hum of submerged rage, Washington brings both heavyweight stage experience and movie-star charisma to the role of Macbeth. He shares a convincingly resentful, edge-of-madness energy with McDormand’s sharp-angled ice-queen Lady Macbeth, the duo’s advancing years heightening the sense of an ambitious celebrity power couple making their last grasp at the big prize.
Colourblind casting is not new in Shakespeare, but it is still refreshing to see black actors playing major roles in classic texts, with Corey Hawkins (Straight Outta Compton, BlacKkKlansman) especially strong as Macbeth’s righteously vengeful nemesis Macduff. Another inspired casting choice is British stage actor and director Kathryn Hunter, her contortionist shape-shifting used to embody all of the three witches whose artfully evasive prophecies help propel Macbeth to his doom. One of Coen’s small but wily innovations is giving a more decisive, morally ambivalent role to the minor character Ross, played by Alex Hassell with a dancer’s grace and the calculated charm of a smiling assassin. It almost feels as if Iago has wandered into The Scottish Play by mistake, reinforcing how nobody can be fully trusted in this coldly amoral, child-murdering horror story.
Unlike most cinematic adapters of Macbeth, from Roman Polanski to Justin Kurzel, Coen resists the temptation to modernise Shakespeare with naturalistic speech and relatable emotion. Instead, he fully embraces a theatrical aesthetic that recalls 20th century cinematic greats including Welles, Kurosawa, Bergman and Hitchcock. The much-garlanded French cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel, a frequent Coens collaborator whose credits also include Amelie and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, delivers a lustrous monochrome look full of stark side lighting, deep shadows and silhouettes framed against blinding white backdrops, frequently invoking the high-contrast chiaroscuro style of German Expressionism.
Art director Stefan Dechant also excels himself with stunning production design. Working entirely on a Burbank soundstage, he reimagines 11th century Scotland as a mist-shrouded post-apocalyptic hellscape and Macbeth’s castle as an imposing brutalist fortress touched by the dream geometry of Escher and Di Chirico. Sparingly used but highly effective, stand-out visual effects include a supernatural crow motif and a poetic vision of Birnam Wood that appears to invade not just Macbeth’s castle but also his feverish mind during the climactic battle. Regular Coens composer Carter Burwell also delivers a powerfully eerie score that blurs into sound design with its slithering strings and ominous percussive thumps.
Coen’s take on Macbeth is more sound than fury, more icy film noir than the twisted love story of some previous adaptations. Fans of the director’s work with brother Ethan will miss their signature brand of sardonic wit, though there is a wry joke buried in the credits with a nod for fictional editor Reginald Jaynes, brother of Roderick Jaynes, the long-time shared alias the Coens use for their editing work. A masterclass in chilly grandeur, The Tragedy of Macbeth offers little in the way of comforting warmth, consoling humour or the milk of human kindness. But it is still a timelessly potent depiction of self-destructive lust for power, and one of the most beautiful Shakespeare adaptations ever made.
Director, screenwriter: Joel Coen, based on the play by William Shakespeare
Cast: Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Alex Hassell, Bertie Carvel, Brendan Gleeson, Corey Hawkins, Harry Melling, Miles Anderson, Matt Helm, Moses Ingram, Kathryn Hunter, Scott Subiono, Brian Thompson, Lucas Barker, Stephen Root, Robert Gilbert, Ethan Hutchison, James Udom, Richard Short, Sean Patrick Thomas, Ralph Ineson
Producers: Joel Coen, Frances McDormand, Robert Graf
Cinematography: Bruno Delbonnel
Editing: Lucian Johnston, Reginald Jaynes
Production designer: Stefan Dechant
Costume designer: Mary Zophres
Music: Carter Burwell
Production companies: Apple Original Films (US), A24 (US), IAC Films (US)
Venue: BFI London Film Festival (special gala screening)
In English
105 minutes
