The Tragedy of Macbeth
Light and Shadows inside Joel Coen
It may have been just a matter of time before there was a Coen brothers' adaptation of William Shakespeare. At the end of 2021, it came in the form of The Tragedy of Macbeth starring Denzel Washington as the titular character, and Frances McDormand playing the wicked Lady Macbeth. It was McDormand and her performance as Lady Macbeth on stage that set her husband Joel off to begin gestating on the ideas that would eventually become this film.
Well documented by now is the solo directing endeavour by Joel Coen without his long-time collaborator and brother Ethan Coen that marks the first time in an almost 40 year career they have not done a film together. Joel is quoted as saying:
“I knew I’d be directing the next one by myself...If I was working with Ethan I wouldn’t have done ‘Macbeth,’ it would not be interesting to him.”
So there is no wonder the visual language, as well as the pacing1 of the film, differs greatly from Coen's most recent The Ballad of Buster Scruggs which is safe to say falls closer to the usual aesthetic of a Coen brothers film along the lines of Hail Caesar, Burn After Reading, or The Big Lebowski. The characters are absurd, the way they speak the dialogue, and the race against the clock-type nature of these films have become constants in almost every Coen Brothers' film. The Tragedy of Macbeth is different in many ways for better or for worse. The dialogue remains almost verbatim with the original Shakespeare verse and the delivery from Washington, McDormand and many of the other characters don't have added quips or set up lines for a gag. Coen wanted to stay true to the source material when adapting it for the cinema as the characters speak with vigor and emphasis the way they would on the stage. Notably, both Washington and McDormand have played their respective characters on stage and that experience and reps show on the screen.
I'm always enamoured with a Coen brothers film and their ability to unravel story and character in unexpected ways. Think of O Brother, Where Art Thou? or True Grit as examples of the way we take a seemingly direct journey with a character and end up in places we could never have guessed. But filmmakers should be expansive in their work and after being in the game for so long, trudging out the same story could get tiresome. Sure you can draw comparisons between several of Coen's films and that may be the mark of a true auteur but The Tragedy of Macbeth is such a stark contrast from his other work and that begins with maybe the two strongest aspects of this film: the silvery and gothic black and white photography and the proportionally perfect production design.
Before Macbeth, Coen and cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel have collaborated for Inside Lleweyn Davis and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs with the former serving as a precursor to what would eventually become the final look for Macbeth. Inside Llwewyn Davis had a sort of soft glow to the image and lacked real contrast while still managing to have pops of bright colour throughout the film. There is a dreamlike feel to the film that serves the story of an ambitious but down on his luck folk artist. Coen and Delbonnel take what they did in that film and pushed it even further with Macbeth, stripping away the colours and embracing light and shadows.
There are aspects of this film that are part horror film and part neo-noir. Both of which could also describe Joel Coen's directorial debut Blood Simple that treats this Texas thriller in the same way. There is foreboding that exists throughout both films and the characters behave as if there is a killer monster around the corner. The images from The Tragedy of Macbeth reference other Macbeth adaptations, namely Orson Welles' 1948 film, with its rich black and white and overwhelming blacks and shadows. The lighting choices are bold and dramatic, playing off the sets and resembling lighting design normally reserved for the stage. The decision for black and white was made to avoid distractions and accentuate the actors' faces (and when you have Denzel Washington it makes it an even easier decision). In an interview with Arri, Delbonnel said:
“If the color blue appeared in a scene, it would be more likely to distract from the words of Shakespeare. When that blue tone is merely a shade of gray, the faces are more present."
These faces, the close-ups they use are engaging to the story, especially a story that has been adapted or read through countless times by now. Your mileage may vary depending on your opinion or appreciation of Bill Shakes and the many adaptations but a perfectly composed image of a great actor delivering well-written dialogue is undeniably great. This is the case with this film.
As crisp as the photography is, the production design execution is equally responsible for the overall effectiveness of this film. Production Designer Stefan Dechant previously worked with Coen on True Grit serving as Art Director and his efforts on Macbeth are a shining light in this otherwise dark and shadowy tale. The entire film was shot on a sound stage in Los Angeles meaning these sets were all designed and built solely for the production.
There is a feeling of precision with the design, the sharp lines carving out different shapes to frame the characters. There are larger-than-life sets that dwarf the characters inside of them and there is a surreal nature to some of the outdoor scenes. A constant fog that takes over parts of the picture cast an ominous glow around the characters and some of the only "practical" lighting comes from the purposefully fake-looking night sky and moon. Everything in the frame is in service to the actor and the story. As it should be and undoubtedly intentional by Coen. There are no distractions anywhere in the frame and an intentional lack of flair with the production allows both Denzel and Frances to take centre stage.
Denzel Washington was able to obtain his eighth(!) acting nomination from the Academy Awards for his truly great performance as Macbeth. Denzel really is that dude. Notably, both he and Frances McDormand play these characters as the ages they are now (both in their 60s) and this added lived experience informs how their characters behave in this world. Coen takes a certain approach to his storytelling, there is almost always a running clock that the protagonist is up against. Perhaps coming from the Alfred Hitchcock school of suspenseful storytelling. The story begins with Macbeth receiving these visions from three witches about him gaining power and becoming the new king of Scotland and we watch as he and Lady Macbeth, by any means possible, take action to ensure this vision becomes reality. However, the path to power is rarely linear and it is not long before Macbeth himself is under siege. The stakes, the consequences, and the inevitable death that comes with such power are shown on Denzel's face in every frame and heard through every word he powerfully delivers. The added old age gives the character shape and motive, there is a burning need and desire to achieve their goals before it is too late.
While I have always admired the works of Joel Coen and became quite familiar with his style and decision-making when it comes to his filmmaking, this deviation from his norm is refreshing. I've been engrossed in his stories and the way he can take the films into unexpected places. The Tragedy of Macbeth may have been an itch Coen needed to scratch or an experiment to see how he could leave his mark on adapting something like Shakespeare. Although maybe too overserious for many viewers, especially those who roll their eyes at anything related to Shakespeare, this film takes the very same ideas that Coen has been exploring throughout his and their entire filmography. Just look back at the opening prelude for A Serious Man or as far back as Raising Arizona to see that there is an obsession with morality and mortality the same way that The Tragedy of Macbeth is. Whether Joel Coen continues on this gothic more serious take to his filmmaking in the future, or if Ethan makes a return to the director's chair again, The Tragedy of Macbeth catapults itself into the pantheon of not just great Shakespeare films but great adaptations as a whole.
“I wanted to go as far as I could away from realism and more towards a theatrical presentation,” he said. “I was trying to strip things away and reduce things to a theatrical essence, but still have it be cinema.”
The Tragedy of Macbeth Ranking:
8.5/10 Wayward Sisters.
After every review of a film, I will give out a few recommendations. Think the “more like this” feature on Netflix but better.
FILMS TO WATCH IF YOU LIKED THIS ONE:
The Seventh Seal Ingmar Bergman (1957)
Blood Simple Joel Coen (1984)
Inside Llewen Davis Coen Brothers (2003)
Thank you for reading!
Coen Brothers have used the pseudonym Roderick Jaynes for their shared editing efforts for their entire career.