The Tragedy of Macbeth review: Joel Coen’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s play is a one-of-a-kind experience

The Tragedy of Macbeth feels unlike any other to have released in recent times. It’s an amalgamation of some of the best talents that have taken a 400-year-old play and given it a new spin.

A still from The Tragedy of Macbeth

The Tragedy of Macbeth

Story: A Scottish lord Macbeth encounters three witches who tell him that he is destined to become King of Scotland. He and his wife eventually plot to murder the King and seize the throne by force.

Review: Through the years Shakespeare’s work has been a favourite choice to adapt for the screen. In internet-speak, it can be best described as “spicy” - there’s plotting, power struggle, revenge, heightened drama, bombastic almost lyrical dialogue, comedy, romance - everything that keeps you engaged and entertained. Filmmakers have often put their own cinematic spin to it that elevates and adds more flair to the source material.

The first thing that pops to mind when The Tragedy of Macbeth opens is how it appropriates elements from Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal: black and white cinematography, wisps of smoke enveloping the frame, and high contrast between light and shade (thanks to Bruno Delbonnel). The Tragedy of Macbeth also feels very close to a play, a deliberate decision on Coen’s part. The entire film was shot on soundstages in Los Angeles, just like you did back in the day.

The characters inhabit the focus of the camera at all times and not the background they function in. But even so, the setting plays an important role in the storytelling, it’s visually stark and bleak, just like Macbeth’s fate in the story.

The Tragedy of Macbeth is made for an audience that is already well acquainted with the story, its themes, and its characters. For me, who only has had cursory exposure to this Shakespearean tragedy, a good amount of reading and a rewatch really helped to fully soak in the essence of the film. It felt like a crash course in a topic that many (like me) may have strayed far away from, owing to a plethora of reasons, the primary one being the language in which the dialogue is spoken. It’s the original ye olde English that takes some time to grasp and fully acclimatise to, but once you do there’s no turning back.

The cast, brimming with stage and film performers, is extraordinary. Denzel Washington plays a weary warrior, much older than the protagonist in the original play. He entrenches the role with his signature expressiveness and delivery; you can feel every emotion he feels, his hunger for power, his gullibility, the guilt that weighs him down and eventually drives him to a state of madness.

He’s Macbeth riding high on his battlefield victory, whose valour impresses King Duncan, but he’s also someone who easily falls prey to the three witches prediction, all played by the scene-stealing stage actor Kathryn Hunter - there might just be an Oscar nom waiting for this performance. At first, she cuts a sorry figure, a haggard old lady muttering to herself who moulds her body grotesquely, rolling a thumb between her toes. And then suddenly cloaked in black from head-to-toe stands upright, emanating an aura of mystery to both the audience and Macbeth and Banquo (Bertie Carvel).

Then there’s Frances McDormand; she’s Lady Macbeth, the one who cooks up the entire plan for Macbeth to slay the king and usurp the throne. She commands power, is held equal in respect by her husband, something that was probably not commonplace for a woman.

Verdict: The Tragedy of Macbeth feels unlike any other to have released in recent times. It’s an amalgamation of some of the best talents that have taken a 400-year-old play and given it a new spin.

The Tragedy of Macbeth is streaming on Apple TV+.

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Cast and Crew

Olivia Washington

Children’s Nurse

William Shakespeare

Jason T. Clark

Stefan Dechant

Jay Peck

Karen Ruth Getchell

Max Baker

Doctor (uncredited)

Peter F. Kurland

Randall L. Johnson

Denzel Washington

Macbeth

Frances McDormand

Lady Macbeth

Alex Hassell

Ross

Bertie Carvel

Banquo

Brendan Gleeson

Duncan

Corey Hawkins

Macduff

Harry Melling

Malcolm

Miles Anderson

Lennox

Kathryn Hunter

Witches / Old Man

Scott Subiono

Murderer

Brian Thompson

Murderer

Lucas Barker

Fleance

Stephen Root

Porter

Robert Gilbert

Angus

James Udom

Seyton

Richard Short

Siward

Sean Patrick Thomas

Monteith

Ralph Ineson

Captain

Jefferson Mays

Doctor

Susan Berger

Lady in Waiting

Jacob McCarthy

Wheyface

Nancy Daly

Lady Macbeth's Nurse

Peter Janov

Soldier (uncredited)

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