"By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes..."
A Scottish lord becomes convinced by a trio of witches that he will become the next King of Scotland, and his ambitious wife supports him in his plans of seizing power. We all know Macbeth. It's required reading for everyone in 10th grade or so. You either love it or hate it. I took quite a likening to the story. Naturally, I was pretty hyped for The Tragedy of Macbeth and not just because of the talented cast and crew. For starters, this is 100% Shakespeare. Hardly anything is changed and is directly from the play. That being said, this can be hard to follow at times. We don't have the convenience of a modern translator at hand so we're left questioning some of what we just listed to for the past few minutes. It's cool that they were able to pull this off with how difficult of a read it is. Branching off the dialogue, we have two solid performances from Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand. You have to acknowledge how well they pull of the delivery and everything while maintaining character. Critics and audiences are going wild over Denzel which is great. I don't think I'm at that level and maybe it's my thoughts on the movie as a whole. For me, I didn't feel much for each character, maybe because I knew everything that happens. Basically, I was watching actors do Shakespeare. It takes a good actor to do it and we have many great actors here. But I just wasn't as invested in the performances as I thought I was. If there is one performance I was invested in, that would be Kathryn Hunter as the Witches and the smaller role of the Old Man. She is absolutely marvelous and haunting. Some of the best casting of the year. I'm surprised she's not getting as much praise as she should be. It's quite the performance and one I'll be thinking of for a long time.
Joel Coen is a great director, no question about it. He maintains his master directorial skills here even with his brother. Like the acting, it takes a certain person to pull of Shakespeare, and he does that. It's cool to see what he does with the story and how it stands out. I might as well say it now because I don't know where else to put it. There's so much to complement in this movie, and I have more to do. But, I can't say I fully enjoyed this. Most of it is an appreciation. Shakespeare is inaccessible for most people. This and some of Romeo and Juliet are the only works of his I like. Part of that is because I had units to break them down to have the time of appreciation. Had this not been taught in class and I only watched this, I probably wouldn't like the movie. But because I have an understanding, I do like this enough and can appreciate the work done. Shakespeare is hard and there's no denying it. I just want more than a simple appreciation for everything. Anyway, the most amazing parts of the movie are the technicals. The cinematography is to die for. When you watch this, simply watch it for the visuals because it is rewarding. They will be remembered for years to come. Then there's the production design. All of this was shot on a sound stage and not on location. That works incredibly here and they utilize the space to its fullest potential. Sometimes it's hard to even know this isn't at an actual castle or outdoors. Carter Burwell composes a nice score that blends in with the impressive sound design. Every single one of these technicals enhance the movie as a whole. I've given my opinion on The Tragedy of Macbeth. I wouldn't recommend this if you don't like Shakespeare or this play. After watching it twice, I can say I doubt I'll rewatch this for a long time, but I can say I liked and appreciated the craftsmanship.
A Scottish lord becomes convinced by a trio of witches that he will become the next King of Scotland, and his ambitious wife supports him in his plans of seizing power. We all know Macbeth. It's required reading for everyone in 10th grade or so. You either love it or hate it. I took quite a likening to the story. Naturally, I was pretty hyped for The Tragedy of Macbeth and not just because of the talented cast and crew. For starters, this is 100% Shakespeare. Hardly anything is changed and is directly from the play. That being said, this can be hard to follow at times. We don't have the convenience of a modern translator at hand so we're left questioning some of what we just listed to for the past few minutes. It's cool that they were able to pull this off with how difficult of a read it is. Branching off the dialogue, we have two solid performances from Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand. You have to acknowledge how well they pull of the delivery and everything while maintaining character. Critics and audiences are going wild over Denzel which is great. I don't think I'm at that level and maybe it's my thoughts on the movie as a whole. For me, I didn't feel much for each character, maybe because I knew everything that happens. Basically, I was watching actors do Shakespeare. It takes a good actor to do it and we have many great actors here. But I just wasn't as invested in the performances as I thought I was. If there is one performance I was invested in, that would be Kathryn Hunter as the Witches and the smaller role of the Old Man. She is absolutely marvelous and haunting. Some of the best casting of the year. I'm surprised she's not getting as much praise as she should be. It's quite the performance and one I'll be thinking of for a long time.
Joel Coen is a great director, no question about it. He maintains his master directorial skills here even with his brother. Like the acting, it takes a certain person to pull of Shakespeare, and he does that. It's cool to see what he does with the story and how it stands out. I might as well say it now because I don't know where else to put it. There's so much to complement in this movie, and I have more to do. But, I can't say I fully enjoyed this. Most of it is an appreciation. Shakespeare is inaccessible for most people. This and some of Romeo and Juliet are the only works of his I like. Part of that is because I had units to break them down to have the time of appreciation. Had this not been taught in class and I only watched this, I probably wouldn't like the movie. But because I have an understanding, I do like this enough and can appreciate the work done. Shakespeare is hard and there's no denying it. I just want more than a simple appreciation for everything. Anyway, the most amazing parts of the movie are the technicals. The cinematography is to die for. When you watch this, simply watch it for the visuals because it is rewarding. They will be remembered for years to come. Then there's the production design. All of this was shot on a sound stage and not on location. That works incredibly here and they utilize the space to its fullest potential. Sometimes it's hard to even know this isn't at an actual castle or outdoors. Carter Burwell composes a nice score that blends in with the impressive sound design. Every single one of these technicals enhance the movie as a whole. I've given my opinion on The Tragedy of Macbeth. I wouldn't recommend this if you don't like Shakespeare or this play. After watching it twice, I can say I doubt I'll rewatch this for a long time, but I can say I liked and appreciated the craftsmanship.