Lady Macbeth the film has nothing to do with the Shakespeare play. Except the the lead character played wonderfully by Florence Pugh is driven to commit atrocity, and after that, more atrocity. In that way she is more like Macbeth thanh is wife. "I am in blood / Stepped in so far, that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er". It seems each act makes the next almost inevitable. But this is a film, based on a novel, that speaks very much to the position of a woman in the 19th century, before, and largely afterwards. This woman, this girl's only way out of her plight is an extreme one and her choices are perpetual misery or forbidden acts. The film is a moody and dark film, befitting its subject, shown largely by flowing one tableau into another. It is not something you would watch if you want light viewing or have moral qualms. Our protagonist, if you would call her that, and I think she bears some protagonistic properties and definitely sympathies despite her actions, is not one who is easy to like, or perhaps should be liked. But we can put ourselves in her place and imagine at least what it would be like. And the film makes us see her. Really see her. In all her dimensions. Lady Macbeth is not a film for everyone. But it is a superb and compelling film. Not an easy film. But that is largely what makes it such a great film.
Review of Lady Macbeth
