Do we really need another version of 'Macbeth' so soon after the debacle that was the Kurzel/Fassbender version, (some people praising it to the heights; others, like me, hating it), but then this is Joel Coen's "Macbeth" or "The Tragedy of Macbeth" to give it its full title, so should we expect a medieval "Blood Simple" or perhaps even a Big Mac, (and that's probably not the last time you'll hear that attempt at a gag)? Well, Coen's version, (sans brother Ethan), is certainly different but then we always knew that it would be; abridged, shot in black and white by the great Bruno Delbonnel and in the Academy ratio, in what, if this were the theatre, you might call a blank stage and it's magnificent.
Denzel Washington is Macbeth and his missus, naturally, is Joel's missus, Frances McDormand. It matters not a jot that they are Americans speaking in their own accents or that Denzel is an African-American, just as Macduff and his entire family are African-Americans. This is Shakespeare, after all, and Shakespeare has no boundaries especially when it comes to interpretation and this is Denzel's show; he really has got inside Macbeth's skull and he can do more with his voice and eyes than most actors can do with their whole bodies.
Frances, however, is less impressive as Macbeth's not-so-fair lady. There's something of the frumpy American housewife about her, a reader of 'Ladies' Home Journal' with ideas above her station and who's more than a little embarrased by her husband's behaviour. Everyone one else, however, is just fine with Kathryn Hunter, playing all three witches as one, walking away with her every appearance.
How does it compare to other versions? I still haven't seen Polanski's but it certainly knocks the Kurzel and Welles versions for six and it may even better Kurosawa's "Throne of Blood". Coen clearly knows that this is a medieval film noir out of James M. Cain and that's the way it should be treated and bringing out the inner Cain in no way diminishes the Bard; indeed this is one of the greatest of all filmed Shakespeare's. Do we really need another 'Macbeth'? Of course, we do.
Denzel Washington is Macbeth and his missus, naturally, is Joel's missus, Frances McDormand. It matters not a jot that they are Americans speaking in their own accents or that Denzel is an African-American, just as Macduff and his entire family are African-Americans. This is Shakespeare, after all, and Shakespeare has no boundaries especially when it comes to interpretation and this is Denzel's show; he really has got inside Macbeth's skull and he can do more with his voice and eyes than most actors can do with their whole bodies.
Frances, however, is less impressive as Macbeth's not-so-fair lady. There's something of the frumpy American housewife about her, a reader of 'Ladies' Home Journal' with ideas above her station and who's more than a little embarrased by her husband's behaviour. Everyone one else, however, is just fine with Kathryn Hunter, playing all three witches as one, walking away with her every appearance.
How does it compare to other versions? I still haven't seen Polanski's but it certainly knocks the Kurzel and Welles versions for six and it may even better Kurosawa's "Throne of Blood". Coen clearly knows that this is a medieval film noir out of James M. Cain and that's the way it should be treated and bringing out the inner Cain in no way diminishes the Bard; indeed this is one of the greatest of all filmed Shakespeare's. Do we really need another 'Macbeth'? Of course, we do.