Despite being filmed mostly in staid long-takes Lady Macbeth is incredibly riveting, a neo-Victorian film that gets just about everything right.
We first meet Katherine (played by Florence Pugh, the "Macbeth" of the title) at her wedding to a man about twice her age. On their wedding night, instead of sleeping with her, he looks at her naked body and then goes straight to sleep. Katherine's husband, despite being twice her age, is somewhat of a meek man, kept under the thumb of his even bullying father who likes to bully Katherine as well. Eventually these two men leave, one because he has no sexual interest in Katherine, the other to punish her with isolation, but left to her own devices Katherine finds life in the remote manor serves her quite well: she is free to sleep, walk and eat when she wants, and most importantly she also has the freedom to strike up an affair with an insolent serving man.
Despite the staid nature of the piece filled with corsets and repression the movie has plenty of sex and violence, used to great effect. Every actor among the small cast is also incredibly fantastic here.
It's hard to believe this is director William Oldroyd's first feature film because he has such a controlled and beautiful vision. One of the details I especially appreciated is that he includes more than one black character in the film, something that adds depth and subtext to what happens later in the film as it goes from a mediation on feminism to a meditation on racism and all without the film overplaying its hand or becoming didactic.
A must see.
We first meet Katherine (played by Florence Pugh, the "Macbeth" of the title) at her wedding to a man about twice her age. On their wedding night, instead of sleeping with her, he looks at her naked body and then goes straight to sleep. Katherine's husband, despite being twice her age, is somewhat of a meek man, kept under the thumb of his even bullying father who likes to bully Katherine as well. Eventually these two men leave, one because he has no sexual interest in Katherine, the other to punish her with isolation, but left to her own devices Katherine finds life in the remote manor serves her quite well: she is free to sleep, walk and eat when she wants, and most importantly she also has the freedom to strike up an affair with an insolent serving man.
Despite the staid nature of the piece filled with corsets and repression the movie has plenty of sex and violence, used to great effect. Every actor among the small cast is also incredibly fantastic here.
It's hard to believe this is director William Oldroyd's first feature film because he has such a controlled and beautiful vision. One of the details I especially appreciated is that he includes more than one black character in the film, something that adds depth and subtext to what happens later in the film as it goes from a mediation on feminism to a meditation on racism and all without the film overplaying its hand or becoming didactic.
A must see.