Movie Details
| Title: | The Tragedy of Macbeth | |
| Director: | Joel Coen | |
| Year: | 2021 | |
| Genre: | Filmed Play | |
| Times Seen: | 1 | |
| Last Seen: | 01.15.22 |
Other Movies Seen By This Director (11)
- Barton Fink
- The Big Lebowski
- Blood Simple
- Burn After Reading
- Fargo
- Inside Llewyn Davis
- Miller's Crossing
- No Country for Old Men
- Raising Arizona
- A Serious Man
- True Grit
| Date Viewed | Venue | Note |
| 01.15.22 | Internet | The thing that drew me to this - other than Joel Coen directing - was how stark the trailer looked. It looked like what I imagine every person immediately thinks of when they hear "art film." Like Bergman-esque lugubrious people looking right at the camera and speaking in code. So I thought that could be a fun take on Shakespeare. And it worked for a while, but the novelty of the aesthetic didn't sustain for me as the film went on and by the time it ended it seemed more like a workaround to covid... which it probably was way more coincidental than that but still. With all Shakespeare adaptations, the language was a hurdle for me. Reading it, I can go slow and there are even editions with inline "translations" like ongoing cliff's notes that I remember liking in High School, but in film the actors have to deliver it naturally so whatever doesn't convey through action and emotion I'm pretty lost on, especially when ol' Denzel is half whispering and mumbling his soliloquies to make it seem like he's talking to himself. So I'm left with an ok experience. As usual, the witches scenes were the most interesting. But with all these Shakespeare adaptations, I have to think that the real audience are Shakespeare fans who are already well familiar with the source material and looking for intricacies completely lost to me. In that regard, the film is probably pretty good. Also, I usually try to gauge my personal enjoyment as if this was shown in high school English class after suffering through the group reading. In that regard, the film is also pretty good. The photography alone sets it above the usual Kenneth Branagh affair for me. |
