By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes

Continuing my trip up The Guardian's Top 51 Films of 2021

#10 : The Tragedy Of Macbeth

Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand hit top form in Joel Coen’s austere reimagining of Shakespeare’s Scottish bloodbath


And we're in to the top 10!  I've heard this is good, but must admit to having struggled with every Shakespearean film I've ever seen - with the exception of Baz Luhrmann's Romeo+Juliet and I think most people would agree that some liberties were taken with the original script in that particular version.  I also quite liked 10 Things I Hate About You, but even more liberties are taken with that one!  I am however reasonably familiar with Macbeth having done it at school (a mere 40 years ago) and having helped my eldest revise for it (slightly more recently, given that it was last month).

And, oh look - black and white AND a 4:3 aspect ratio.  I've got a telly with a big screen and excellent colour - can we not, for once, just use its capabilities?  Having said that, it's a VERY stylish black and white with loads of contrast so I'll let Joel off (a bit).   The sets are also very sparse (yet somehow still impressive) which only enhances the sense of style and there are some very nice visual touches around the trees coming to Dunsinane and the witches in particular - it's most definitely a beautiful thing to look at.  

However, it's not quite so much fun to actually watch - I just can't get with the dialogue I'm afraid.  It takes too much of my brain's bandwidth to mentally translate it into English, particularly given the breakneck speed at which some of it is delivered.  And yes, I know I'm a total heathen but if I didn't know what was basically going on, I think I'd have been totally lost - I enjoyed recognising the quotes "I'd" revised though!

It won't surprise you to hear it's all very well acted - there is a LOT of acting going on from everyone.  Denzel and Frances certainly love that acting thing, but everyone's else is giving it a good go as well, although I was annoyed I couldn't place one of the actors (Harry Melling) and had to resort to Google - he was only bloody Dudley Dursley!  (who, I learned, almost lost the role for Deathly Hallows Part 1 because he'd lost too much weight).  I'm also going to namecheck Kathryn Hunter (whose real name is apparently Aikaterini Hadjipateras) for some quite incredible physical acting as the witches - there's an argument she's the best thing in the whole film.

That's all I have to say about it really - if you like a bit of Shakespeare then I think you'd like this (although one of the critics quoted by Wikipedia HATED it).  It is a "good" film, just not all that enjoyable - very stylish, but it was just all a bit too dramatic for me, I'm afraid.  But, if it's your bag then, at the time of writing, it's available on Apple+ and I imagine will be there for some time yet.

#11 - An all-round impressive offering
#9 - A well-loved film.  By others

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