London Film Festival Watch #6
Joel Coen’s first solo outing as a director makes for one of the most visually striking films ever put to the big screen. Every single frame is perfectly crafted, each a piece of art in its own right. The black and white cinematography is much to thank for this, Bruno Delbonnel does wonders with the artistic stylings that lend themselves to such colouring. Enhancing the cinematography is the gorgeous production design, so minimalistic and very much inspired by German expressionism, it allows an abundance of natural light to fill the screen and in the black and white cinematography this creates an ever-present eerie atmosphere that saturates the scenes. The framing of shots is also something to marvel at, not a word needs to be said and you can already tell the nature of the intentions of the characters.
However, unless you are a massive fan of Shakespeare and have studied the text of Macbeth, you might be struggling to keep up with the intricacies of what’s happening in the scenes. The fact that this film is completely in Shakespearean presents a barrier to entry, I’ll be up front, I understood about half of this film, and I think that will be the case for the majority of people. Now this isn’t as big of a problem as it sounds, the main threads of the story are presented in fairly obvious ways but it’s a shame that it prevents you from fully engrossing yourself into the world of Macbeth and the colourful cast of characters that gets presented to you.
Despite not understanding all the dialogue in the film I can’t ever say I was bored; the stunning visuals are enough to keep you engaged throughout, but the exquisite performances are really what keep you invested in the story that’s playing out. Denzel Washington, who plays Macbeth, is magnetically captivating, seeing the complete deterioration of a man play out before your eyes is frightening, yet Washington fuels his Macbeth with so much heart that it makes it even more painful to watch his fall. The scene when he makes his first kill is a standout, the regret and remorse that is plastered upon his face as the severity of what he’s just done dawns on his is beautifully acted.
In contrast to this, Frances McDormand’s Lady Macbeth is an unnerving sight, one who is self-assured that the heinous crimes that she’s coercing her husband into are righteous as long as it gets them closer to the crown. As the story progresses and their roles begin to flip its fascinating to see how their internal pursuits change but also the dynamic between them, and all of this is made possible by the Oscar calibre acting that they both deliver. It’s also worth noting the brilliance of Kathryn Hunter, who plays the three witches, the physicality of her performance is something to marvel at and the way her voice embodies the strange disturbing nature of the stories she tells is amazing, it adds to the eerie atmosphere of the film.
While I didn’t love the film, mainly due to the challenging writing but also the surface level nature of it, never really exploring the characters in any depth just jumping from one story beat to the next, it’s worth seeing. This is probably the best a Shakespearean play will be adapted to screen and my god is it a sight to look at.
★★★1/2
